A Penguin Pilgrimage

For two Academy biologists, a volunteer trip to South Africa to rehabilitate wild African penguins reinforced the critical importance of our own colony.

February 12, 2025

Kelsey Paulling & Tim Wong, Steinhart Aquarium Biologists

A wild African penguin basks at a beach in Cape Town, South Africa

As Academy biologists, we have the privilege of ensuring our African penguins live their best lives. We raise them from chicks, manage their diet, create enrichment and training plans, and conduct two daily feedings that educate and captivate hundreds of thousands of adoring fans every year. (We also endure our birds’ unparalleled odor and occasional bites, in case you think it’s all cuddles and chin-scratches.)

Keeping our colony healthy and happy isn’t just a labor of love—it’s essential to the survival of the species. This past October, we witnessed firsthand what African penguins are up against during an eye-opening trip to Cape Town, South Africa.

African penguins on the sand at Boulders Beach in Cape Town, South Africa, with houses on a hillside in the background

African penguin chick and adult outside an artificial nest box in Cape Town, South Africa.

From California to Cape Town

The Academy’s African penguins are beloved local celebrities and ambassadors for their wild counterparts in Southern Africa. Their most important role, however, is as part of a Species Survival Plan (SSP)—an international program to maintain healthy genetic diversity in captive-bred African penguins should wild populations require intervention.

One of African penguins’ most vital allies is the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB), a Cape Town-based nonprofit dedicated to rehabilitating and advocating for wild penguins. Every two years, the Academy sends two biologists to Cape Town to volunteer at SANCCOB—and last October, we were the lucky two.

Video by Molly Michelson and Nick Perez. Penguin footage courtesy of Kelsey Paulling and Tim Wong.

Clean, feed, rinse, and repeat

With our bags stuffed with wetsuits, waterproof waders, gloves, and other supplies to donate to SANCCOB, we made the 10,000 mile journey to Cape Town, eager to see African penguins in their native environment and participate in critical conservation work.

After receiving a warm welcome and orientation from SANCCOB staff, we were whisked through food prep and thrown right into the rehabilitation pens. The penguins passing through SANCCOB come in with myriad problems ranging from malnutrition and injury to parental abandonment, so each bird requires personalized care. We learned very quickly how not to get bitten (too badly) at feeding time, how to handle super-feisty adult penguins during medical checks, and how to efficiently scrub the pens and pools multiple times a day to keep the facilities as clean as possible.

Academy Biologist Tim Wong hydrates a rescued penguin before feeding time at SANCCOB in South Africa

Academy Biologists Kelsey Paulling and Tim Wong pose in front of the SANCCOB facility in Cape Town, South Africa

Tim and Kelsey outside SANCCOB’s headquarters in Cape Town.

The days were long and grueling, but the blood, sweat, and tears were all worth it when we were able to release seven penguins back into their colony. Watching them waddle-run into the water as fast as they could was a powerful lesson in resilience: These small birds with spicy personalities have a drive to survive and endure—and are trying so hard to do so.

The data have shown that [rehabilitated] chicks released back into the wild fare just as well as their wild-reared counterparts, so there is hope in this method as a stopgap while we work on bigger issues around prey availability. At this point, every single chick counts. Every bird we can save is a win.

Brenda Melton, Director of Animal Care and Wellbeing, Steinhart Aquarium, and Vice Program Leader, African Penguin SAFE

African penguins being released into the wild at Stony Point, Cape Town, South Africa, after rehabilitation at SANCCOB

Kelsey Paulling and Tim Wong (in green caps) release SANCCOB-rehabilitated penguins at Stony Point, south of Cape Town. Image courtesy of SANCCOB

Not enough fish in the sea

Our trip coincided with a somber milestone: The uplisting of African penguins from Endangered to Critically Endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). This means that at the current rate of population decline, the species is likely to go extinct within 10 years.

Seeing African penguins in their native habitat made all too clear the innumerable threats they face. To name just a few: avian influenza; malaria; urban sprawl; cars; overtourism; predation by caracals, mongooses, leopards, and Cape fur seals; competition for food and nesting materials.

A sign warns drivers to check under their cars for penguins at Boulders Beach in Cape Town, South Africa

Large group of tourists observes wild African penguins in Cape Town, South Africa

And the biggest threat of all: overfishing and unsustainable fishing practices. Wild populations have plunged by 97% over the last hundred years—and yet effective protections are elusive and unsustainable fishing practices are allowed to continue in their hunting grounds. Their primary food sources, sardines and anchovies, are being harvested with purse-seine fishing nets and processed into fish meal for agriculture and aquaculture, or canned for humans and pets.

Through our purchasing choices, we may be inadvertently contributing to the decline of African penguins. If such a universally beloved species is allowed to go extinct on our watch, how many other species with less star power are also disappearing right under our noses?

While the outlook for African penguins isn’t exactly rosy, we left Cape Town inspired by the passionate people we met and motivated to continue advocating for our beloved birds.

A group of African penguins splash in the surf at a Cape Town beach

Take action to protect penguins

You don’t have to be a penguin biologist or live in South Africa to help African penguins. Like all conservation efforts, much of the impact comes from individuals making small contributions in their daily lives.

Choose sustainable seafood and pet food whenever possible. Download Seafood Watch’s seafood guide and look for products with Marine Stewardship Council’s (MSC) blue fish label.
Visit our penguins, then round up at the Academy gift shop: 100% of your donation supports African penguin conservation.
Support SANCCOB and African Penguin SAFE (Saving Animals from Extinction) with a donation.

About the authors

Kelsey Paulling is a biologist II at Steinhart Aquarium. She has been with the Academy since 2020 and has worked with our African penguin colony for the majority of that time, helping to raise eight chicks over the past two years. In addition to working with the penguins, she leads the Amazon Flooded Forest and Venom exhibits.

Tim Wong is a senior biologist at Steinhart Aquarium, where he provides daily care for some of the museum's collection of 40,000 animals and 2,000 plants. Tim's work focuses on exhibiting live butterflies in Osher Rainforest, growing tropical plants, diving in the Philippine Coral Reef exhibit, and caring for the colony of African penguins.

A Penguin Pilgrimage

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