All items sold on this website are polyurethane resin replicas, made in USA. No real or natural bone is available on this site.
South African Penguin Skeleton Replica or African Penguin measures 18 inches. African Penguin Skeleton Model is museum quality polyurethane cast. Made in USA.
The African penguin (Spheniscus demersus), also known as Cape penguin or South African penguin, is a species of penguin confined to southern African waters.
The South African Penguin or African penguin is only found on the south-western coast of Africa, living in colonies on 24 islands between Namibia and Algoa Bay, near Port Elizabeth, South Africa. It is the only penguin species that breeds in Africa and its presence gave name to the Penguin Islands.
Two colonies were established by penguins in the 1980s on the mainland near Cape Town, namely Boulders Beach near Simon’s Town and Stony Point in Betty’s Bay.
Mainland colonies likely became possible only in recent times due to the reduction of predator numbers, although the Betty’s Bay colony has been attacked by leopards. The only other mainland colony is in Namibia, but it is not known when it was established.
South African Penguin or African penguins forage in the open sea, where they feed on pelagic fish such as sardines (including the blue pilchard), Cape horse mackerels, red-eye round herrings and anchovies (specifically the European anchovy and the Southern African anchovy) and marine invertebrates such as squids and small crustaceans, primarily krills and shrimps.
South African Penguin or Penguins normally swim within 12 mi. of the shore. A penguin may consume up to 1.19 lb. of prey every day, but this may increase to over 2.2 lb. when raising older chicks.
Due to the marked decline of sardines in the waters near its habitat, African penguins’ diet has shifted towards anchovies to some extent, although available sardine biomass is still a notable determinant of penguin population development and breeding success.
While a diet of anchovies appears to be generally sufficient for the penguins, it is not ideal due to anchovies’ lower concentrations of fat and protein. The Penguin’s diet changes throughout the year; as in many seabirds, it is believed that the interaction of diet choice and breeding success helps the penguins maintain their population size.
Although parent penguins are protective of their chicks, they will not incur nutritional deficits themselves if food is scarce and hunting requires a greater time or energy commitment. This may lead to higher rates of brood loss under poor food conditions.
When foraging, South African Penguin or African penguins carry out dives that reach an average depth of 82 ft. and last for 69 seconds, although a maximum depth of 430 ft. and duration of 275 seconds has been recorded.
