Did you know that....

* African Penguins are also known as Jackass Penguins, Spheniscus demersus (Latin) and Blackfoot Penguins.

* They eat mainly fish (anchovies, pilchards, sardines, mackerel and herrings) but they also eat squid and shellfish.

* African Penguins are about 60cm tall. * Boys tend to be a little bigger than girls. * They weigh between 2.4 and 3.6kgs.

* African Penguins dive on average to 30m, * Can dive as deep as 130m. * They hold their breath on a dive for an average of 2.5 minutes.

* African Penguins can swim up to 20 km per hour when hunting * Their average swimming speed is 7km/h

* Average life span is 10 years. * Start breeding at aprox. 4 yrs old, and normally lay 2 eggs in a nest that is burrowed in guano or sand * Incubation period is about 38-42 days, with the mum and dad sharing the incubation duties.

* They live in colonies on 24 islands and along the coast between Namibia and Port Elizabeth.

Oiled Penguins

* On the outside it ruins their insulation, the penguin's feathers don't work properly any longer as they are congealed with oil, so the penguins get cold (hypothermia).

* On the inside, if the penguin swallows oil whilst preening (cleaning itself), the penguin gets poisoned.

* Penguins are strong enough to survive a few days once oiled, but if they don't get cleaned (which they can't do themselves), they will die.

* If you come across an oiled penguin(within South Africa/Namibia) please call SANCCOB for information on where to take it to be cleaned.