The African Penguin (Spheniscus demersus), also known as the Blackfooted Penguin (and formerly as the Jackass Penguin), is found on the south-western coast of Africa, living in colonies on 24 islands between Namibia and Algoa Bay, near Port Elizabeth, South Africa, with the largest colony on Dyer Island, near Kleinbaai. Two colonies were established by penguins in the 1980s on the mainland near Cape Town at Boulders Boulders Beach near Simon's Town and Stony Point in Betty's Bay.Mainland colonies probably only became possible in recent times due tothe reduction of predator numbers, although the Betty's Bay colony hasbeen attacked by leopard seals. The only other mainland colony is inNamibia, but it is not known when this was established.
Boulders Beach is a popular tourist attraction, for the beach,swimming and the penguins. The penguins will allow people to approachthem as close as a meter (three ft), and so are often photographed.
The closest relatives of the African Penguins are the Humboldt and Magellanic penguins found in southern South America and the Galápagos Penguin found in the Pacific Ocean near the equator. African Penguins like warm weather.
African Penguins grow to 68-70 cm (26.7-27.5 in) tall and weigh between2 and 5 kilograms (4.4 and 11 lb). They have a black stripe and blackspots on the chest, the pattern of spots being unique for everypenguin, like human fingerprints. They have pink glandsabove their eyes. The hotter the penguin gets, the more blood is sentto these glands so it may be cooled by the surrounding air, thus makingthe glands more pink. The males are larger than the females and havelarger beaks, but their beaks are more pointed than those of theHumboldt. Their distinctive black and white colouring is a vital formof camouflage - white for underwater predators looking upwards and black for predators looking down onto the dark water.