Honey Bees Kill Over 60 Endangered Penguins On Cape Town Beach In South Africa

African penguins are on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's red list, which means they face a high risk of extinction

Representational image of a Cape Town beach in South Africa | Photo: AFP

New Delhi: As many as 63 endangered African penguins were killed by a swarm of bees on a beach outside the South African port city of Cape Town, news agency AFP reported, quoting the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds.

"After tests, we found bee stings around the penguins' eyes," the report quoted David Roberts, a clinical veterinarian with the foundation.

The protected birds were found dead on Friday, and Cape honey bees are believed to be responsible for their deaths. 

"This is a very rare occurrence. We do not expect it to happen often, it’s a fluke. There were also dead bees on the scene," Roberts told AFP.

"The penguins... must not die just like that as they are already in danger of extinction. They are a protected species," he said.

According to the report, the birds were from a colony in Simon’s Town, a small settlement near Cape Town.

The Cape honey bees are part of the ecosystem in the area that’s a national park.

'No external, physical injuries'

The bodies of the penguins were sent for post-mortems and samples have been sent for disease and toxicology testing, AFP quoted the South African National Parks as saying.

"There were no external, physical injuries found on any of the birds," said a statement issued by the parks.

It said the post mortem examination showed all the dead birds had multiple bee stings. Many dead bees were found at the site where the penguins died. “Therefore preliminary investigations suggest that the penguins died because of being stung by a swarm of Cape honey bees,” SANParks said in the statement.  

In a statement posted on Facebook, environmental conservation organisation SANCCOB said they would keep a "watchful eye" on the birds along with SANParks. 

“Losing over 60 healthy and most likely breeding, adult African penguins is quite a blow for the Boulders colony, and the species that is already in trouble,” it said. 

“Our Rangers and SANParks - Table Mountain National Park will monitor the nests in the area as some of these birds would have had eggs and chicks, and one partner often can't supply sufficient food or leave the chicks alone. There might be a need to rescue and hand-rear some of them so we'll keep a watchful eye, as always.”

African penguins inhabit the coast and islands of southern Africa. 

According to a report in ABC.net.au, African penguins are on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's red list, which means they face a high risk of extinction.