Thanks to the support of Zoo guests and members, wild critically endangered African penguins have ongoing support. One of the key people leading this charge in the field is the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds’ (SANCCOB) Penguin and Seabird Ranger, Yandisa Cwecwe.
Working side-by-side with African penguins on South Africa’s historic Robben Island, Yandisa plays a vital role in protecting one of the world’s most threatened seabirds. With a Master of Science in Zoology and Marine Biology, and early research experience at Stellenbosch University’s Marine Conservation Genomics laboratory, Yandisa’s passion for marine life led her to SANCCOB in 2021. There, she found her calling conserving African penguins.
“The wild African penguin population is dropping at a rate of nearly 8 percent per year, but thanks to support from our members and guests, we can help these charismatic birds have a better chance of survival in the wild,” Nicole Chaney, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo conservation manager, says. “It’s inspiring for our members and guests to learn about the people dedicating their lives to saving wildlife and wild places, like Yandisa and the team at SANCCOB.”
As a SANCCOB Ranger, she rescues injured, ill or oiled penguins and transports them by boat to SANCCOB’s Rehabilitation Centre in Table View, South Africa, for specialized care and rehabilitation before they are released back into the wild.
Yandisa also collaborates closely with varying organizations on the island, including Earthwatch, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, the University of Cape Town, and the Robben Island Environmental Unit. Her daily routine includes early morning field patrols, seabird and penguin population monitoring, penguin nest checks, and the use of Passive Integrated Transponders (PIT tags) to help track individual penguins throughout their lives.
In 2024, African penguins were officially uplisted to ‘Critically Endangered’ on the IUCN Red List, with the number of wild breeding pairs falling below 10,000. If current trends continue, these charismatic birds could be extinct in the wild by 2035. Yandisa works to prevent that outcome every day. The threats they face, from commercial overfishing and extreme weather events to pollution and disease are formidable. Conservationists, like Yandisa, with support from CMZoo members and guests, provide hope.
CMZoo contributes annually to SANCCOB’s Robben Island Ranger project, directly funding field efforts like Yandisa’s work. Since 2010, CMZoo guests and members have contributed more than $159,675 to SANCCOB in support of African penguin conservation. In 2020, the Zoo deepened its commitment by joining AZA SAFE (Saving Animals From Extinction) African Penguin, a collaborative program supported by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
Every visit to CMZoo is conservation in action. African penguins are one of the species up for support in this year’s Members-Only Conservation Vote. Until Sun., March 30, CMZoo members can check their email for a private link to cast their vote for the CMZoo staff-championed conservation project that inspires them most. Guests visiting CMZoo can see African penguins up close, knowing their visit helps support a future for this species in the wild.