African penguin
Spheniscus demersus (Linnaeus, 1758)
CRCritically Endangeredpenguins
The African penguin (Spheniscus demersus) is a bird in the penguin family Spheniscidae, order Sphenisciformes. It is a medium-sized marine bird and an aquatic predator and carnivore, with an adult body mass of 3.13 kg and up to 3.6 kg.
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Quick facts about the African penguin
Each clutch holds 2 eggs, incubated for 39.5 days, with 1.5 clutches per year and sexual maturity reached at 2 years. It is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, is partially migratory and has a geographic range of 330,100 km².
- Weight
- 3.13 kg – 3.6 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Height
- 60 cm – 70 cmsrc for Height
- Lifespan
- 11 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- marinesrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 39.5 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 2src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 23.9 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1.5src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Aquaticsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Partialsrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Critically Endangered (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the African penguin?
Photos of the African penguin
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the African penguin live?
Not recorded
What is the African penguin?
The African penguin (Spheniscus demersus), also known as the Cape penguin or the South African penguin, is a species of penguin confined to southern African waters. It is the only penguin found in the Old World. Like all penguins, it is flightless, with a streamlined body and wings stiffened and flattened into flippers for a marine habitat. Adults weigh an average of 2.2–3.5 kg (4.9–7.7 lb) and are 60–70 cm (24–28 in) tall. The species has distinctive pink patches of skin above the eyes and a black facial mask. The body's upper parts are black and sharply delineated from the white underparts, which are spotted and marked with a black band.
The African penguin is a pursuit diver and feeds primarily on fish and squid. Once extremely numerous, the African penguin is now the rarest species of penguin, classified as critically endangered, with its population declining rapidly due to a combination of several threats, such as habitat loss, overfishing and climate change. It is a charismatic species and is popular with tourists. Other vernacular names of the species include black-footed penguin and jackass penguin, due to the species' loud, donkey-like noise (although several related species of South American penguins produce the same sound). They can be found along the coast of South Africa and Namibia.
From the Wikipedia article “African penguin” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=African_penguin&oldid=1384411155), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the African penguin endangered?
The African penguin is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List: it faces an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Critically Endangered species. What the categories mean.
How is the African penguin classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderSphenisciformes
- familySpheniscidae
- genusSpheniscus
- SpeciesSpheniscus demersus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Aptenodytes molinae, Diomedea chilensis, Diomedea demersa
Other names and names in other languages (73)
- AFPEEnglish
- Black-footed penguinEnglish
- Black-footed penguinEnglish
- Cape penguinEnglish
- Cape penguinEnglish
- Jackass penguinEnglish
- Jackass penguinEnglish
- South African penguinEnglish
- South African penguinEnglish
- PikkewynAfrikaans
- BrilpikkewynAfrikaans
- Brilpikkewyn (Afrikapikkewyn)Afrikaans
- بطريق أفريقيArabic
- البطريق الأفريقيArabic
- بطريق الحمارArabic
- بطريق أسود الرجلينArabic
- pingüín d'el cabuAsturian
- Африкански пингвинBulgarian
- Mank AfrikaBreton
- pingüí del CapCatalan
- tučňák brýlovýCzech
- pengwin brefogWelsh
- ÆselpingvinDanish
- BrillepingvinDanish
- BrillenpinguinGerman
- afrika pingvenoEsperanto
- Sudafrika pingvenoEsperanto
- Pingüino del CaboSpanish
- Pingüino de El CaboSpanish
- Aafrika pingviinEstonian
- aafrika pingviin (prillpingviin)Estonian
- پنگوئن آفریقاییPersian
- afrikanpingviiniFinnish
- Manchot du CapFrench
- פינגווין אפריקניHebrew
- פינגווין שחור רגלHebrew
- פינגווין שחור-רגלHebrew
- अफ्रीकी पेंगुइनHindi
- afrički pingvinCroatian
- Magareći pingvinCroatian
- pápaszemes pingvinHungarian
- Աչքավոր պինգվինArmenian
- Pinguino africanoItalian
- Pinguino del capoItalian
- ケープペンギンJapanese
- 아프리카펭귄Korean
- akiniuotasis pingvinasLithuanian
- Африк оцон шувууMongolian
- Сӹнзӓлыкан пингвинWestern Mari
- BrilpinguïnDutch
- zwartvoetpinguïnDutch
- kappingvinNorwegian
- pingwin przylądkowyPolish
- افریقی پینگوئنWestern Panjabi
- pinguim-do-caboPortuguese
- Pinguim-africanoPortuguese
- pinguin africanRomanian
- Очковый пингвинRussian
- Jack ass penguinsScots
- tučniak okuliarnatýSlovak
- očalasti pingvinSlovenian
- Магарећи пингвинSerbian
- Magarasti pingvinSerbian
- sydafrikansk pingvinSwedish
- เพนกวินแอฟริกันThai
- Kap PengueniTurkish
- Afrika pengueniTurkish
- Gözlüklü PenguenTurkish
- пінгвін африканськийUkrainian
- Chim cánh cụt châu PhiVietnamese
- 南非企鹅Chinese
- 斑嘴環企鵝Chinese
- 黑脚企鹅Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the African penguin
Other species in the same genus Spheniscus.
Humboldt penguin
Spheniscus humboldti
Galapagos penguin
Spheniscus mendiculus
Magellanic penguin
Spheniscus magellanicus
CompareAfrican penguin vs Humboldt penguinAfrican penguin vs Galapagos penguinAfrican penguin vs Magellanic penguinAfrican penguin vs Spheniscus megaramphus
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
Is the African penguin endangered?
Yes. The African penguin is listed as Critically Endangered (CR) on the IUCN Red List, which is a threatened category.
How heavy is an African penguin?
An adult African penguin weighs 3.13 kg, with values up to 3.6 kg reported. It falls in the medium size class.
What does the African penguin eat?
The African penguin is an aquatic predator and a carnivore.
How long does an African penguin live?
The African penguin has a lifespan of 11 years.
How many eggs does an African penguin lay?
The African penguin lays 2 eggs per clutch, with 1.5 clutches per year, and the eggs are incubated for 39.5 days.
What kind of animal is the African penguin?
The African penguin is a bird, a penguin in the family Spheniscidae and the order Sphenisciformes.
What are other names for the African penguin?
The African penguin is also called the Cape penguin, Jackass penguin, Black-footed penguin and South African penguin.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). African penguin (Spheniscus demersus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/african-penguin
“African penguin (Spheniscus demersus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/african-penguin.
@misc{african_penguin_2026,
title = {African penguin (Spheniscus demersus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/african-penguin},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}