10,000 breeding pairs are left out of millions from a few decades ago. Extinct in the wild by 2035 unless we act now.
This isn’t someone else’s crisis. African penguins are marine sentinels. They’re sounding the alarm. Overfishing, habitat loss, and climate change are gutting our oceans’ ability to sustain life. Our lives included.
Oceans produce much of the oxygen we breathe. They absorb the carbon dioxide and heat that drive climate change. They cover 71% of our planet.
As the penguins go, so go the oceans. Fight for them, and you’re fighting for the future of life on Earth, including us.
Somewhere off the coast, a penguin is still fighting to survive. Whether it wins might depend on what you do next. Please join us. Saving lives feels good.
Why donate to KruShan Foundation
Your donation protects African penguins in real time.
A few years ago, we were about to send funds for a planned project when we learned that chicks 300 km down the coast had been abandoned and were starving after a winter storm. A small, under-resourced nonprofit needed help immediately. We redirected the funds that same day. The chicks survived.
That’s the power of giving through KruShan. We stay in constant contact with conservation partners across South Africa, so your donation goes exactly where it’s needed most right now: food, medical care, artificial nests, emergency equipment, medication, infrastructure. We partner with a well-known organization and several lesser-known small nonprofits doing extraordinary work with very little.
Thanks to the exchange rate, your gift also stretches further in South Africa than it would almost anywhere else.
And you’ll always know where it went. We report back on every gift, so you can see and feel the difference you made.
What We Do
KruShan Foundation is a U.S. nonprofit organization protecting critically endangered African penguins by partnering with South African nonprofits with lived experience and local expertise to strengthen conservation capacity and advance empathy as a climate solution, ensuring that those least responsible for climate harm can shape a future in which penguin colonies thrive in the wild.
Protect
Safeguard critically endangered African penguins and the coastal ecosystems they depend on.
- Fund rescue, rehabilitation, and colony monitoring
- Support habitat restoration and protection
- Provide resources that reduce harm to penguins and ecosystems
Partner
Honor our partners’ expertise, reject donor-over-grantee power dynamics, and embrace trust-based philanthropy.
- Strengthen local nonprofit capacity (training, tools, staffing)
- Build long‑term, trust‑based collaborations
- Amplify frontline expertise and leadership
Transform
Shift away from harm‑blindness toward empathy‑centered action to advance empathy as a climate solution.
- Create empathy‑centered climate storytelling and education
- Shift narratives around species loss and responsibility
- Support the local community in Gansbaai, South Africa, by investing in opportunities for disadvantaged students through the DEEP Blue Ambassadors program.
Small by design. Accountable by choice. The only U.S. nonprofit solely dedicated to protecting African penguins from extinction in the wild.
We didn’t grow a big bureaucracy. We built a nimble organization with the controls of a large one; transparent financials, clear impact, and deep partnerships with the people doing the work on the ground. Your donation moves fast and lands precisely. We report back to you about the impact you have made to protect African penguins.
Our results to date
Outputs and impact aren’t the same thing. Learn more about our impact.
560
+
African penguin chicks fed.
35
African penguin families protected with artificial nests.
137
Injured African penguins provided medical intervention and critical care.
2,800
African penguins at the Dyer Island colony protected by solar-powered WiFi security cameras we purchased and and the Senior Seabird Ranger, whose salary/expenses we fund.
40
Each year, disadvantaged students in Gansbaai, South Africa, receive supplies, and a three-day autumn retreat sponsored by KruShan Foundation and CapeNature, as part of the three-year DEEP Blue Ambassadors program.
Life-saving equipment provided:
KruShan Foundation X-Ray Room for critical on-site diagnostics; reliable freezers to store fish to ensure rescued penguins stay fed, a laptop to ensure a partner’s life-saving work can continue, penguin pool relining
More testimonials
Ripple Effect of Rescuing one African Penguin
Powerful Ripple Effect: When 1 equals 45
Protecting one African penguin starts a ripple that strengthens colonies, slows extinction, and builds a penguin-protector-level epic legacy. One rescue can lead to at least 45 more birds over a lifetime. Factor in the dollar-to-rand exchange rate, and your impact multiplies. That’s the math of hope. Every penguin counts. So do you. #NotBy2035
View our impact chart.
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