Jackass penguins have a jackass language not so different from English

By Brandon Specktor - Senior Writer 17 hours ago

The braying songs of African "jackass" penguins follow two extremely common rules of human language.

African penguins (Spheniscus demersus) bear the unfortunate nickname "jackass penguins" because they communicate through honking, donkey-like brays. Laugh at them if you like, but a new study suggests that their jackass language actually follows the same basic linguistic rules as ours.

In the study, published Wednesday (Feb. 5) in the journal Biology Letters, researchers recorded nearly 600 vocalizations from 28 adult male penguins living in Italian zoos. (Males tend to vocalize a lot during the mating period, which is why the researchers turned to this population). The scientists knew from prior research that African penguins honk using three distinct types of sound, reminiscent of human syllables, when greeting one another, mating, or defending territory. But the researchers wanted to know whether those "syllables" followed two common linguistic rules.

One of those rules, called Zipf's law of brevity, was proposed in 1945 by linguist George Zipf. The law states that the more frequently a word is used in any language, the shorter it tends to be (think of words like "the," "to" and "of" in English). Previous studies have analyzed more than 1,000 world languages for evidence of Zipf’s law, and the rule holds up in all of them. 

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Refuelling under scrutiny as S.Africa penguins hit by oil spill

JULY 10, 2019

by Max Matavire

Rangers in wet suits have been searching for oil-tarred penguins in shallow water around St Croix Island off the South African coast as a refuelling spill highlights conservationists' fears over pollution.

Experts said an unknown number of penguins had been affected on the rocky, uninhabited island, which is home to the largest breeding colony of endangered African penguins in the world.

A Liberian-flagged ship spewed between 200 and 400 litres of oil into the sea off Port Elizabeth city during "bunkering" re-fuelling—the process of filling a ship with fuel from another vessel.

The small-scale leakage from the bulk carrier MV Chrysanthi vessel at dawn on Saturday was the second oil spill in the environmentally-sensitive area in three years.

"This is exactly the concern with offshore 'bunkering' that we have been voicing concerns about," Stacey Webb, of the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) charity, told AFP.

"The danger is not over yet. Penguins forage up to 100 kilometres (60 miles) away from the islands (St Croix Island and Bird Island) so they could run into the spill out at sea."

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Study shows penguins attract seabirds when they corral fish

by Bob Yirka , Phys.org

A pair of researchers with Mandela University has found that when African penguins work together to corral fish, they attract seabirds intent on taking advantage of the suddenly available prey. In their paper published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, Alistair McInnes and Pierre Pistorius describe their multi-year study of African penguins and what they learned about them.

African penguins are the only penguins that live off the shores of Africa, and they are endangered—population levels are 70 percent lower than they were just 15 years ago. Prior studies have shown that the primary reason for their decline is a decrease in their food supply—sardines and anchovies and other small fish. Humans use nets to catch the same fish, leaving little for the penguins to eat. In this new effort, the researchers sought to learn more about the eating habits of the penguins in hopes of finding a way to save them from extinction.

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Seabird avian flu detected

NEWS / 20 FEBRUARY 2018, 10:32AM / LISA ISAACS

While there have been no new avian flu infections in the commercial poultry sector, the disease has been detected in other seabird species.

Economic Opportunities MEC Alan Winde yesterday confirmed that further incidents of the highly pathogenic H5N8 avian flu had been found in seabird populations in the province.

Seven cases of infected African penguins from six different sites across the provincial coastline were detected.

“Due to the status of African penguins as endangered, a decision to treat infected birds has been taken.

“Treatment protocols are similar to those for flu in humans - appropriate nutrition, hydration, vitamins, and the administration of anti-inflammatory drugs or antibiotics for any secondary infections,” Winde said.

Of the seven cases, one has survived.

No new cases were reported in the commercial poultry sector since October.

“The management authorities of all major sea bird colonies around the coastline are monitoring their zones closely. 

"All necessary precautionary protocols to contain the spread of the disease have been implemented and extended surveillance and collaboration across sectors is assisting with further epidemiological evaluations,” Winde said.

CapeNature chief executive Razeena Omar said: “CapeNature is working closely with the state vet and has put procedures in place to monitor the virus and restrict the spread by humans between infected and non-infected areas”.

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No-fishing zones help endangered penguins

Date:  January 16, 2018

Source:  University of Exeter

Summary:

Small no-fishing zones around colonies of African penguins can help this struggling species, new research shows.

Working with the South African government, researchers from the universities of Exeter and Cape Town tested bans on catching "forage fish" such as sardines and anchovies -- key prey for the endangered penguins -- from 20km around their breeding islands.

The body condition and survival of chicks improved when the no-fishing zones were in place.

More research is needed, but the scientists say the fishing closures should continue in South Africa and should be considered elsewhere.

"The amount of forage fish caught worldwide is increasing and -- although the effects are disputed -- the impact on marine ecosystems could be severe," said Dr Richard Sherley, of the Environment and Sustainability Institute on the University of Exeter's Penryn Campus in Cornwall.

"Forage fish are a key link in the food chain as they eat plankton and are preyed on by numerous species including tuna, dolphins, whales and penguins.

"We need to do more to understand the circumstances in which small no-fishing zones will improve the food available to predators, but our research shows this is a promising way to help African penguins."

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Saving endangered African penguins

Findings provide key strategies for rehabilitation

Date:  November 15, 2017

Source:  Florida Atlantic University

A first-of-its-kind study on prognostic health indicators in the endangered African Penguin provides invaluable information to preserve and rehabilitate this seabird. Competition with fisheries, oil spills, climate change, diseases and predators are all contributing factors in their dramatic population decline, which has been as high as 80 percent in some South African colonies. Until now, limited data existed on the factors contributing to their successful rehabilitation.

With less than 25,000 breeding pairs in existence today, it is an uphill battle for the African Penguin, which calls South Africa home. The 60 percent drop in their population since 2001 has put them on the endangered species list by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. In some South African colonies, the drop in population has been as high as 80 percent. Competition with fisheries, oil spills, climate change, diseases and predators are all contributing factors in their dramatic decline.

To preserve this species and optimize rehabilitation efforts, an epidemiologist from Florida Atlantic University's Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute joined forces with scientists from the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB). The facility, located near Cape Town, South Africa, receives more than 900 African Penguins for rehabilitation each year. While the success rate for the overall release of these penguins back into the wild is about 75 percent, limited data exists on the factors that contribute to their successful rehabilitation.

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Stolen African penguin's chicks die at South African marine park

Father of the two chicks was stolen from Port Elizabeth’s Bayworld marine park as a protest against animals being kept in captivity

Adam Vaughan

Friday 30 September 2016 13.10 BST Last modified on Friday 30 September 2016 22.00 BST

The two chicks of an endangered African penguin that was stolen from a marine park in South Africa have died.

Buddy the penguin was taken from Bayworld in Port Elizabeth by two men in a protest against animals being kept in captivity, but staff warned he was ill-equipped to survive in the wild.

Dylan Bailey, a Bayworld curator, confirmed “with great sadness” on Friday that the chicks that Buddy and his mate Francis had been looking after had both perished. The park said the cause of death was yet to be established.

The South African police service told the Guardian that the two suspects – named as Adrian Donian, 22, and Emile Du Plessis, 24 – had handed themselves into police on Thursday.

They were charged for malicious damage to property and theft and released on warning after appearing at Port Elizabeth magistrates court on the same day. The case is postponed for one month pending further investigation, the police said.

Bayworld urged members of the public to look out for Buddy, who has a tag on his flipper with the numbers 2-6-6.

“We are still looking for Buddy, it is fair to say it is unlikely he will be spotted but we are not ready to give up hope just yet,” said Bailey.


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Africa's penguins dying off

Scientists don't agree on how to save food source

Associated Press

CAPE TOWN, South Africa – The cute, knee-high critters bray like donkeys and draw tourists near Cape Town. But African penguins – the continent’s only species of the flightless bird – are at risk of extinction.

As shoals of anchovies and sardines have migrated south into cooler waters, the population of African penguins that feeds on the fish has plummeted by 90 percent since 2004 along South Africa’s west coast, once the stronghold of Africa’s only penguin species.

This decline, recorded by South Africa’s Department of Environmental Affairs, led to four key fishing grounds being declared off limits seven years ago in an experiment to see whether the measure could help save the penguins. But scientists are still debating whether fishing has helped push the species to the brink of extinction.

In the 1930s, South Africa’s largest penguin colony had 1 million African penguins, and there were many other colonies. Now, only 100,000 of the birds remain in all of South Africa and neighboring Namibia, the only two countries where the species exists. In 2010, the International Union for Conservation of Nature declared the African penguin endangered.

Both fisheries scientists and bird specialists agree that the decline of the African penguin began around 2004 with a southern shift in anchovies and sardines away from the hub of colonies along South Africa’s Atlantic coast. Scientists are unsure why the fish have moved, considering as possible causes climate change, overfishing or natural fluctuations.

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Fishing ban rescues Robben Island penguin chicks

Fish feast boosts penguin numbers

Date: July 7, 2015

Source: University of Exeter

Summary: Survival of endangered African penguin chicks increased by 18 percent following a trial three-year fishery closure around Robben Island in South Africa, a new study has found.

The results, which are published in the Royal Society JournalBiology Letters, indicate that even small 'no-take zones' can dramatically improve the survival chances of endangered species.

The African penguin population is in freefall, with adult survival rates over the last decade desperately low. Although the ban on commercial fishing off Robben Island has boosted chick survival, the long term prospect for the species remains gloomy.

Dr Richard Sherley from the University of Exeter said: "One of the major challenges of conserving a mobile species like the African penguin is that once they leave a protected area they are subject to outside pressures and dangers, including poor prey availability.

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These Endangered Penguins Are Getting ‘Honeymoon Suites’

Eliza Gray @elizalgray

April 18, 2015

Biologists hope privacy will encourage endangered African penguins to breed 

Things are about to get a little racy between the animals at the New England Aquarium. 

Aquarium experts are building “honeymoon suites” for eight pairs of endangered African penguins, as a way of encouraging them to breed more chicks, the Associated Press reports. The aquarium hopes to grow the population of the birds, which are expected to be extinct in the wild by 2025. 

The honeymoon suites will be plastic igloo-like homes and private nooks built off of the main exhibit to protect the penguins’ modesty from the prying eyes of the aquarium’s visitors.

Source 

Rescued 'abandoned' penguin chicks survival similar to colony rates

Date:

October 22, 2014

Source:

PLOS

Summary:

Abandoned penguin chicks that were hand-reared and returned to the wild showed a similar survival rate to their naturally-reared counterparts, according to a study published October 22, 2014 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Richard Sherley from University of Cape Town and colleagues.

The Endangered African penguin population has been rapidly decreasing since 2001. In the Western Cape of South Africa, penguins breed from February to September and moult between September and January, once chicks have fledged. If adult penguins begin the moulting process, a 21 day period where they no longer have the waterproofing necessary to dive for food, with chicks in the nest, the chicks may starve. Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) recovers 'abandoned' penguin chicks that are no longer being fed and cares for them until they can be reintroduced into breeding colonies. Researchers documented the care, release, and survival of over 840 and 480, in 2006 and 2007 respectively, hand-reared chicks.

African penguins put researchers in a flap

Controlled fishing experiment raises controversy over cause of birds’ decline on Robben Island.

Michael Cherry

15 October 2014

Robben Island is notorious as the site where Nelson Mandela spent 18 years in prison, but now the island’s 1,200 breeding pairs of African penguins are sparking a scientific controversy. At stake is the survival of an endangered species, as well as how fisheries around the world are managed.

In 2013, there were just 22,000 breeding pairs of African penguins (Spheniscus demersus) worldwide: the population had declined by 65% since 2001. Possible causes include pollution, habitat loss and climate change, but a key suspect is fishing of anchovies and sardines, which are important prey for penguins.

To test this theory, in 2008, the now-defunct South African Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism began an unusual experiment involving two pairs of islands: Robben and Dassen islands, off South Africa’s west coast; and St Croix and Bird islands, off the country’s south coast. For three years, a zone around one island in each pair was closed to fishing while the other island remained open. Then the situation was reversed. The rare controlled experiment has “important implications for fisheries worldwide in competition with vertebrate predators”, including seabirds, seals and dolphins, says Johann Augustyn, secretary of the South African Deep-Sea Trawling Industry Association in Cape Town.

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Vocal variety in African penguins: Four basic vocalizations used for adult communication, two more for the young

Date:

July 30, 2014

Source:

PLOS

Summary:

Adult African penguins communicate using four different vocalizations and juveniles and chicks use two begging calls to request food.

Adult African penguins communicate using four different vocalizations and juveniles and chicks use two begging calls to request food, according to a study published July 30, 2014 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Livio Favaro and colleagues from University of Turin, Italy.

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