African penguin: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the African penguin lives – recorded in 2 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Spheniscus demersus
Group	Penguins
Status	Critically endangered (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	2 countries
Continents	Africa
Mass	103 g (birth weight)
Class	Bird
Order	Sphenisciformes
Family	Spheniscidae

Where does the African penguin live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the African penguin in 2 countries and territories across Africa. Wikidata gives its range as: Africa.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

How big is an African penguin?

Wikidata records the following for the African penguin: mass 103 g (birth weight).

Is the African penguin endangered?

The African penguin’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Critically endangered” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the African penguin?

The African penguin (Spheniscus demersus) is a bird in the order Sphenisciformes and the family Spheniscidae, genus Spheniscus. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About 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.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article African penguin (revision 1376229001), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q244813 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).