Waddling into view are the stars of ‘Penguin Town’

NEW YORK — They arrive every year in their snazzy black and white tuxedos, causing traffic jams and clamoring for quality real estate.

Endangered African penguins have long been a source of delight to visitors of the South African community of Simon’s Town, mixing with humans as they go about their penguin tasks, which includes the important one of finding a nest and breeding.

Now these critters are the stars of a new eightpart series on Netflix starting Wednesday called “Penguin Town,” which follows several of the birds and reveals their personalities, from a middle-aged pair nicknamed “the poster penguins for monogamy” to a young bachelor looking for his first mate.

“It became very clear very quickly that this was like watching a reality show like ‘Love Island’ or ‘Big Brother,’” said Cayley Christos, a field producer on “Penguin Town” and co-owner at production company Red Rock Films.

“I know people don’t love anthropomorphizing all the time, but it’s hard not to do when they so clearly have these personalities,” she added. “And so we didn’t really have a choice but to make it really personal.”

Among the some 1,000 breeding pairs that arrive each mating season, the filmmakers capture relatable characters, including a whimsical misfit they call “Junior” and a pack of troublemaking penguins known as the “Car Park Gang.”

Behind the sweetness is serious business. Only 2% of the African penguin population is left from the number that the existed 100 years ago. Christos cites estimates that the species has about 10 years left before extinction.

“Living among people isn’t easy. It’s not the best place for them. They really should be on an island, but they have no choice. They’d rather face these huge giants walking around them all day long than die,” she said.

The flightless, aquatic birds first started showing up in Simon’s Town on the Western Cape in the early 1980s as boat traffic around their natural habitat increased. They usually arrive in November and stay for six months.

Townsfolk soon realized that the penguins were a tourist draw and a potential source of income.