Save African Penguins From Extinction

Target: Dion George, Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries for South Africa

Goal: Protect food supplies for African penguins endangered by overfishing.

During the past 12 decades, penguin populations in Africa have plummeted by over 99 percent. On the current trajectory, African penguins will be completely annihilated in another decade. Not only would the continent lose a unique fixture and a tourism darling, but the ecosystem of which the penguin is a lynchpin would suffer catastrophically.

While climate change, predators, and ship interference all play roles in these penguins’ declining numbers, one suspected main driver is a drastic drop in their primary food source: sardines and anchovies. South Africa, where the penguin colonies are plentiful, allows abundant commercial fishing that utilizes purse-seine nets. These nets scoop up massive quantities of the aforementioned fish, leaving little behind for penguins that rely on them for sustenance. A group of international experts appointed by South African leaders recently recommended a ban on fishing around six of the largest penguin colonies. But leadership rejected the recommendations of their own appointed experts.

Conservationists are taking these leaders to court as a result, but a new environmental leader has promised change. Sign the petition below to ensure South Africa’s new environment minister honors this important pledge.

PETITION LETTER:

Dear Minister George,

African penguins are vital contributors to their ecosystem and to South Africa’s economy, bringing in abundant tourism. But without urgent action, they could become extinct by 2035. Other species that rely on increasingly depleted fishing stocks will face the same crisis.

The thriving Boulders penguin colony demonstrates how recommended fishing restrictions can bolster populations. Please do not follow the same path as your predecessor and dismiss the recommendations of appointed experts. You are correct that a prolonged court case will not benefit anyone. Listen to the concerns of conservationists and make good on your pledge to put in place protections that will restore and ensure the survival of one of this nation’s most iconic species.

Sincerely,

[Your Name Here]

Photo Credit: Charles J. Sharp