Jackass Penguins are found nowhere in the world apart from South Africa and unfortunately numbers have declined rapidly - by about 90% in the past 60 years.

This decline in numbers is mainly a result of harvesting of eggs for human consumption, reduction of food supply by commercial fishing, oil pollution from oil tankers and the large-scale removal of guano (bird droppings which have accumulated, forming a hardish substance, sometimes several metres deep). This nutrient rich substance is removed from their nesting grounds to use as a fertiliser. Unfortunately, in the past it was removed with bulldozers at the height of their breeding season, which obviously had a devastating effect on the penguin population, smashing eggs and killing young birds.

Jackass Penguins get their name from the donkey or Jackass-like sounds they make, but they are also known as the African Penguin or Blackfoot Penguin They are extremely fast swimmers with an average speed of about 7km per hour. Penguins have shiny, waterproof feathers that help keep their skin dry, but once a year they molt, losing their old feathers and growing new ones. During this process, which takes about 3 weeks, they cannot swim and do not eat because they are unable to go into the water. Therefore, if you see our Penguins looking slightly scruffy, it is obviously one of their 'bad feather' days, although you will be pleased to know they are fed as normal!