Michaela Strachan
The BBC Springwatch presenter tells us why she loves African penguins
Why have African penguins captured your heart?
They are my local charismatic bird and I think everyone just loves penguins. I once wrote a poem for a children’s book about them, which started off: “What is it about penguins that always make you smile?/ Is it the way they waddle in that funny penguin style?” I can’t imagine Cape Town without them.
Why do they waddle?
It’s much more scientific than you would imagine. You think it’s because they have short legs, but their legs aren’t as short as they look – a lot of their leg is hidden by their feathers and they do have knees. That widdle-waddle walk is like a pendulum that stores energy at the end of each movement, which can be used in the next step. It’s more efficient than a human stride.
Where do you go to see African penguins?
The colony closest to me is in a place called Boulders Beach and it’s a real tourist destination – there are boardwalks you can go on and see all the penguins. Then you go to the next beach down, near Simon’s Town, and, if you’re lucky, you can swim with them. But the Stony Point colony at Betty’s Bay is one that I absolutely love going to see – there are lots of characterful nesting penguins there.
Are there many penguins in South Africa?
Sadly, there aren’t as many as there used to be. The trouble is tourists come here and they see all of those penguins and they have absolutely no idea that they are classified as Endangered. Their numbers in the past century have dropped by 98 per cent. There used to be millions of them and now they reckon there are about 20,000 breeding pairs left. If you’re not a conservationist, it sounds like a lot, but 2 per cent more and that’s
it – they’re gone.
S There used to be millions and now they reckon there are 13,000 breeding pairs. T
What threats do they face?
The most recent and biggest problem is that the breeding grounds of the sardines and anchovies they feed on have moved away, southwards round the cape, and it’s presumed that’s because of fishing pressure and climate change. It’s now a long way for penguins to swim and get their food source, so a lot of them don’t make it.
What can be done to help?
It’s a problem that’s not easily solved – you can’t just push all the fish back! In a pioneering project, BirdLife South Africa is trying to create a new colony further round on the south coast. It’s predator proof, there’s a good food source, and there are also decoy penguins with speakers playing penguin calls to try and attract wild penguins – it’s an unusual and ambitious project.
Have you ever been involved with penguin conservation?
I volunteered on a ‘chick bolstering’ programme with seabird charity SANCCOB. They gather late-born chicks (which often die), rehabilitate them and, when they’re ready, put them back into the wild. It’s harder work than you would imagine. Handfeeding angry penguins is not easy! It’s a sticking plaster, but it keeps the numbers up while a solution is found to save the species.
MICHAELA STRACHAN is a wildlife television presenter who is well known for being a regular fixture on the BBC’s Springwatch, Autumnwatch and Winterwatch.