Few things would entice me to brave triple-digit summer temperatures and wake before sunrise. The chance to see endangered African penguins just two hours from Wimberley tops that short list, which is how I found myself on the road to Waco on August 8 with my husband Kruger to join hundreds of penguin fans at the Penguin Shores Grand Opening at Cameron Park Zoo.
Twenty-two endangered African penguins (11 male and 11 female) call Penguin Shores home, making it the largest colony in Texas. The eldest, Mauri, 31, and Rita, 19, partnered in 2008. Their offspring, Finley, eight years old, and his partner of four years, Possum, 22, and their three offspring, Theodore, Maple, and Winnie, complete their multi-generational family. African penguins mate for life unless they fail to breed or suffer a misadventure. Both parents incubate their eggs (usually two) and share chick feeding.
Duane Hills, Deputy Zoo Director, joined the zoo almost two years ago when the area that is now a state-of-the-art $12.8 million African penguin habitat was just dirt. When asked what draws him to the African penguins, Hills said, “Penguins are a charismatic species and intriguing to watch. They are also a species you don’t see often. We are very excited to tell their story.”
The glass-fronted habitat includes an underwater viewing area, a wave machine that mimics ocean waves, rockwork resembling their natural habitat’s rocky beaches, and nest boxes, which the penguins are already exploring. The night house is tucked off to the side, where the penguins sleep and escape the heat.
A vast walk-in freezer holds the smelt, capelin, and herring. Hills says, “They all have their preferences. It’s interesting to see which penguins prefer which fish. Most eat just one type of fish, with a couple more adventurous birds enjoying more than one type.”
Moving the 22 African penguins from the Fort Worth Zoo, which wanted to focus on their rockhopper penguins, to the Penguin Shores habitat illustrates the cooperation between AZA (Association of Zoos and Aquariums) accredited zoos committed to SAFE (Save Animals from Extinction) guidelines, which focus on human care and also a robust wild population.
Fish prep behind the scenes.
Behind the scenes in the night house with visitors watching the African penguins through the observation window.
The following morning, after Duane generously took us behind the scenes, we heard children excitedly yelling, “Look, mom, there’s Rupert” and “Oh, I see Dottie!” We realized that they had named their newly purchased plushy toy African penguins and then found their namesakes (each has an armband with its name) in the habitat.
We usually venture halfway around the world to South Africa (Kruger was born there) to see African penguins in the wild on behalf of KruShan Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that we formed in January 2021. Our hearts compel us to do what we can to protect these iconic, charismatic, and adorable two-foot-tall birds with the help of our partners in South Africa. When we talk about our foundation, we often get one of two responses: “There are penguins in Africa?” or “Oh, how cute!”
Once numbering over a million, African penguins have been officially endangered since 2010, mainly due to human interference that began with egg collection and the discovery that penguin guano, which penguins used for nesting, was a lucrative fertilizer. The damage continues from overfishing, oil spills, and climate change. With a 99% population loss over the past century and an astonishing 8% population decline yearly, endangered African penguins face starvation and extinction in the wild within a decade.