Park rangers in South Africa are investigating a flaky incident in which dozens of endangered African penguins appear to have been killed by beloved bees .
The incident go on sometime between Thursday September 16 and Friday September 17 , according to Table Mountain National Park and asrelayedby the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds ( SANCCOB ) on its Facebook Sir Frederick Handley Page . The 63 idle penguins belong to the Boulders African penguin dependency in Simon ’s Town , south of Cape Town . The colonyconsistsof around 2,200 endangered African penguins ( Spheniscus demersus ) .
“ Losing over 60 healthy and most potential breeding , adult African penguin is quite a blow for the Boulders colony , and the species that is already in trouble , ” said SANCCOB . The preservation group said rangers will now have to supervise nests in the area as “ some of these birds would have had egg and chick , and one partner often ca n’t add sufficient food or get out the bird alone . ” Some chicks might even need to be script - rise up , “ so we ’ll keep a alert optic , as always , ” said SANCCOB .
An African penguin comes out of the ocean at Boulders Beach, South Africa, in this file photo taken on 7 February 2025.Image: Schalk van Zuydam (AP)
No further penguin deaths have been report , but park rangers are continuing to monitor the position . The penguins are a local tourer attractor , as people can watch over them from up close .
The ongoing investigation into the penguin deaths includes official , expert advisors , and veterinarians from South African National Parks ( SANParks ) , SANCCOB , and the City of Cape Town . Post - mortems on the dame showed no external forcible injuries , but all penguins suffered from multiple bee stings . Some utter bees were also found at the site where the penguins died .
The go theory is that the penguins were attacked by a swarm of Cape honey bee . Biological sample taken from the penguins are being tested for other signs of toxicity and disease to rule out other potential reason of death .
Geographical range of living African penguins.Image: ICUN
“ This is a very uncommon occurrence , ” David Roberts , a clinical veterinarian with SANCCOB , told AFP , viaThe Guardian . “ We do not await it to happen often , it ’s a flue . ” To which he add together : “ The penguins … must not die just like that as they are already in danger of extinction . They are a protected species . ” Roberts said that tests showed bee stings around the penguins ’ eyes .
African penguin arelistedas endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature ’s Red List . Their current universe dwell of 41,700 individuals , but a decreasing universe trend has seen their numbers game come down by 80 % in the past 50 days . Threats to this species are many , including oil and gas drilling , fishing , diseases , pollution , and climate change .
More : Poo stains from distance pencil lead to find of monolithic penguin “ supercolony . ”
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