SEA LIFE London supports South Africa's endangered penguin species ahead of Penguin Awareness Day 2025

The skilled Aquarist teams at SEA LIFE London and Birmingham Aquariums have volunteered their valuable time and expertise to the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) to aid in their renowned rescue work.

Throughout the month-long programme in December 2024, team members from both attractions travelled to Cape Town for hands-on conservation work to help the critically-endangered African penguins admitted to SANCCOB, and aid in their rehabilitation plan.

The Aquarists helped with careful monitoring and evaluation, prepped and administered crucial medication and feeding plans, and learned about the personalised treatment for each penguin, before releasing them back into the wild under the guidance of the SANCCOB staff.

African Penguins are a unique species vital to the biodiversity of South Africa, being the only penguin species found on the African continent. The African penguin’s population in South Africa—home to around 90% of the global population—has plummeted by 55% in the past decade.

Now classified as Critically Endangered, the species is dangerously close to extinction in the wild due to threats such as food shortages and oil spills. SANCCOB works tirelessly to rescue, rehabilitate and re-release seabirds, with African penguins as their key species of focus.

Jade Sookhoo, Rehabilitation Manager at SANCCOB, said: “The African penguin was recently uplisted to Critically Endangered on the IUCN red list - here at SANCCOB we’re trying to rehabilitate and rewild penguins that come in with injuries by getting them healthy again. We do such important work, particularly our rehab and vet departments, who work directly with the animals and help them get healthy enough to get back out there.

“It's an important job to get the penguin population in the wild up and thriving because the numbers are currently decreasing, and we need to save the birds! Helping SANCCOB is quite easy - donating time or money to our cause is hugely beneficial to our organisation, and we rely heavily on international volunteers to come and help us save the African penguins.”

As part of SEA LIFE’s Breed, Rescue, Protect programme, SEA LIFE UK is committed to supporting SANCCOB annually, through the donation of funds, and the time and resource of its penguin experts. The colonies of Gentoo penguins at SEA LIFE London and Birmingham act as crucial ambassadors for threatened penguin species in the wild, helping to educate about the conservation work that needs doing around the world and highlight how we can boost populations to protect penguins’ futures.

Catherine Pritchard, General Manager at SEA LIFE London Aquarium, said: “I’m delighted that SEA LIFE UK has been able to offer our support and resources to such a worthy organisation as SANCCOB. The conservation work they do is incredible and our Aquarists learned an immeasurable amount from volunteering with them. Thanks to the ambassador penguins in our own attractions, we can help to educate and inform about the threats that penguins face in the wild, and work with organisations such as SANCCOB to build a better future.”

To find out more about SANCCOB and their critical conservation work, visit the SANCCOB website: https://sanccob.co.za/