I went to Cape Town, the home of the African penguin! ~Part 2~

In March 2026, four staff members from Kyoto Aquarium conducted a site visit to Cape Town, South Africa. We will report on their five-day experience in two parts.

Part 1 is here .

Penguins living in the city

Penguins also live in the towns around Boulders Beach.

We were guided by the ranger in charge of this area and took a stroll around the town.

It's a roadside area where you might think, "Are there really penguins living here?", but if you peer into the bushes, you'll see penguins. There's even a sign nearby that says "Penguins Crossing."

According to rangers, they don't know how the birds initially found a place to nest in the city, but once they establish a nest, they generally return every year.

There was a nest right in front of a private house.

In the bushes, there was a chick still covered in fluffy downy feathers. It seemed to have been left alone while its parent penguins went out to catch fish.

We even saw penguin droppings in the parking lot in front of the house.

The local residents have accepted the presence of penguins as a matter of course and keep a safe distance while observing them.

Two Oceans Aquarium

On our last day, we visited the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town again.

The aquarium primarily exhibits animals native to the east coast of South Africa, and also houses African penguin.

In the African penguin exhibit area, messages about the penguins' extinction were posted on the walls, and the feeding program conveyed information about their current situation in the wild, giving a sense of the aquarium's mission as a local aquarium.

Also, the penguin area is currently being expanded, so I'm really looking forward to seeing what kind of area it will be when it's completed.

The five-day inspection tour was incredibly meaningful, with each day filled with new discoveries and learning opportunities.

After the inspection

During my recent visit to Cape Town, I discovered that penguins inhabit various locations.

However, none of these were originally habitats for African penguin; they were places they moved to as a result of habitat destruction or a decline in their food source, fish.

Conservation efforts are underway, but they only slow the rate of decline; the population continues to decrease year after year.

And when SANCCOB released the penguins, they said, "Sometimes our penguin release activities are featured in the media and praised as 'doing something wonderful!', but for us, it's just an everyday thing we do every week. We want more people to know about the current situation of the penguins and this activity, and we want facilities like aquariums to be a point of contact for that." Hearing these words, we were reminded once again of our role.

This inspection gave us a lot to think about regarding what we can do.

Initiatives at Kyoto Aquarium

We began selling merchandise with a portion of the proceeds going to charity on April 1st.

We will donate 100 yen for each feather keychain and 50 yen for each button badge to SANCCOB.

Thanks to the many people who purchased the product, we plan to donate approximately 150,000 yen to SANCCOB.

Additionally, on April 25th, "World Penguin Day," we held a talk event inside the facility, which was attended by nearly 50 visitors.

Two animal care staff who actually visited the site shared their experiences with the penguins in Cape Town.

I was impressed by how attentively so many people listened and how many questions they asked.

We will continue to share information so that many people can learn about the current situation of African penguin.