Editing IPCC:AR6/WGII/Chapter-2 (section)

==== 2.6.5.5 Case Study: Helping African Penguins Adapt to Climate Change ====

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Scale: Regional/local

Issue: Adaptation for a threatened species

The African penguin, ''Spheniscus demersus'' , is the only resident penguin species on mainland Africa. It breeds in a handful of colonies in South Africa and Namibia. In 2017, the penguins of Cape Town’s Boulders Beach colony attracted almost one million visitors, providing 885 jobs and USD 18.9 M in revenue ( [[#Van%20Zyl--2018|Van Zyl and Kinghorn, 2018]] ). Ninety-six percent of the population of this species has been lost since 1900, with a 77% decline in the last two decades ( [[#Sherley--2018|Sherley et al., 2018]] ). By 2019, only 17,700 pairs remained ( [[#Sherley--2020|Sherley et al., 2020]] ). The species is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List ( [[#Birdlife%20International--2018|Birdlife International, 2018]] ) and if this trajectory persists, the African penguin will become functionally extinct in the near future ( [[#Sherley--2018|Sherley et al., 2018]] ).

Historically, hunting and the collection of eggs and guano were the main threats, but three aspects of climate change now predominate. Firstly, an eastward shift of several hundred kilometres in the distributions of their main prey species, anchovies and sardines, has reduced food availability ( [[#Roy--2007|Roy et al., 2007]] ; [[#Crawford--2011|Crawford et al., 2011]] ). While adult penguins typically forage up to 400 km from their colonies, they are restricted to a ~20-km radius from their colonies during breeding months ( [[#Ludynia--2012|Ludynia et al., 2012]] ; [[#Pichegru--2012|Pichegru et al., 2012]] ). The resulting food shortage at this critical time is compounded by competition with commercial fisheries and environmental fluctuations ( [[#Crawford--2011|Crawford et al., 2011]] ; [[#Pichegru--2012|Pichegru et al., 2012]] ; [[#Sherley--2018|Sherley et al., 2018]] ). This has impacted adults’ survival and their ability to raise high-quality offspring ( [[#Crawford--2006|Crawford et al., 2006]] ; [[#Crawford--2011|Crawford et al., 2011]] ; [[#Sherley--2013|Sherley et al., 2013]] ; [[#Sherley--2014|Sherley et al., 2014]] ).

The increasing frequency and intensity of heat waves recorded in recent decades presents a second threat ( [[#van%20Wilgen--2016|van Wilgen and Wannenburgh, 2016]] ; [[#Van%20Wilgen--2016|Van Wilgen et al., 2016]] ; [[#Mbokodo--2020|Mbokodo et al., 2020]] ). Nests were historically built in insulated guano burrows, but are now frequently sited on open ground ( [[#Kemper--2007|Kemper et al., 2007]] ; [[#Pichegru--2012|Pichegru et al., 2012]] ; [[#Sherley--2012|Sherley et al., 2012]] ). High temperatures frequently expose the birds to severe heat stress, causing adults to abandon their nests and resulting in the mortality of eggs and chicks ( [[#Frost--1976|Frost et al., 1976]] ; [[#Shannon--1999|Shannon and Crawford, 1999]] ; [[#Pichegru--2012|Pichegru et al., 2012]] ). Intensifying storm surges and greater wave heights can cause nest flooding ( [[#Randall--1986|Randall et al., 1986]] ; [[#de%20Villiers--2002|de Villiers, 2002]] ).

The African penguin’s survival in the wild is dependent on the success of adaptation action. Increasing access to food resources is a management priority ( [[#Birdlife%20International--2018|Birdlife International, 2018]] ). One approach is to reduce fishing pressure immediately around breeding colonies. An experiment excluding fishing around colonies since 2008 has demonstrated positive effects ( [[#Pichegru--2010|Pichegru et al., 2010]] ; [[#Pichegru--2012|Pichegru et al., 2012]] ; [[#Sherley--2015|Sherley et al., 2015]] ; [[#Sherley--2018|Sherley et al., 2018]] ; [[#Campbell--2019b|Campbell et al., 2019b]] ). A second approach is to establish breeding colonies closer to their prey. An ongoing translocation initiative aims to entice birds eastwards, to recolonise an extinct breeding colony and potentially establish a new one ( [[#Schwitzer--2013|Schwitzer et al., 2013]] ; [[#Sherley--2014|Sherley et al., 2014]] ; [[#Birdlife%20International--2018|Birdlife International, 2018]] ). Penguin ‘look-alikes’ or decoys, constructed from rubber and concrete, have been placed at the site of the extinct colony, and, along with call play-backs, these give the illusion of an established penguin colony ( [[#Morris--2018|Morris and Hagen, 2018]] ). This approach has not yet proven successful.

To promote on-site adaptation to heat extremes and flooding, initiatives are underway to provide cooler nesting sites that also provide storm protection and are sufficiently above the high-water level ( [[#Birdlife%20International--2018|Birdlife International, 2018]] ; [[#Saving%20Animals%20From%20Extinction--2018|Saving Animals From Extinction, 2018]] ). Artificial nest boxes of various designs and constructed from a range of materials have been explored, in combination with the use of natural vegetation. Some designs have proven successful, increasing breeding success ( [[#Kemper--2007|Kemper et al., 2007]] ; [[#Sherley--2012|Sherley et al., 2012]] ), but the same designs have had less success at other locations ( [[#Pichegru--2013|Pichegru, 2013]] ; [[#Lei--2014|Lei et al., 2014]] ).

Hand-rearing and releasing African penguin chicks, including from eggs, has long proven valuable because moulting parents, being shore-bound, are unable to feed late-hatching chicks. Since 2006, over 7,000 orphaned chicks have been released into the wild as part of the Chick Bolstering Project, with a success rate of 77% ( [[#Schwitzer--2013|Schwitzer et al., 2013]] ; [[#Sherley--2014|Sherley et al., 2014]] ; [[#Klusener--2018|Klusener et al., 2018]] ; [[#SANCCOB--2018|SANCCOB, 2018]] ). A new project at Boulders Beach aims to use real-time weather station data, within-nest temperatures and known thresholds of penguin heat stress as triggers for implementing a Heat Wave Response Plan. Drawing on well-established chick-rearing facilities and a large body of expertise, this includes removing heat-stressed eggs and birds, hand-rearing and/or rehabilitation and release. It is hoped that such birds can be released at the proposed new colony site.

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