After a little African Penguin and the unborn baby she’d been carrying were hit by a car in Simon’s Town, alarm bells raised for drivers to be more cautious. Thankfully, the penguin has successfully recovered.
Cape Town, South Africa (28 May 2025) — In March, a little African penguin was waddling at night when she was hit by a car in Simon’s Town (AKA, Penguin Town).
Luckily, a Simons Town local spotted the penguin’s trouble and quickly got the injured seabird out of the road and away from further harm’s way.
The penguin was taken to the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) who care for seabirds in any and all realms of distress. Here, she became known as AP243 as her road to recovery began.
Following medication and X-rays, it was revealed that AP243 had actually been carrying an egg; her baby waiting to be laid.
After over a month of steady recovery work, SANCCOB has announced that not only has AP243 made a remarkable recovery, but she was also released!
Despite the many cheers for AP243 as she waddled away freely, sombre energy was also present as her egg, although laid, did not survive.
“We don’t know if AP243 will ever be able to carry another egg. We don’t know what the long-term effects of this trauma will be. And with the African Penguin population as low as it is, we simply can’t afford to lose a single breeding female,” the SANCCOB team said.
The recovery of AP243 is a reminder that incidents like seabirds being hit by a car simply shouldn’t happen. Conservationists are loudly calling for caution from motorists who find themselves in or near penguin-populated areas like Simons Town, especially as the seabird is classed as Critically Endangered.
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“These seabirds cross roads to reach the ocean, and your caution could be the difference between life and death for them,’ SANCCOB said.
The same is true for all animals that have and continue to adapt to urbanisation in areas they either have always called home or those that they’ve been pushed toward due to the human-influenced spoiling of their natural surroundings. Animals like caracals, too, face great threats from cars, and efforts as simple as paying extra attention or slowing down for these animals are worth far more than being a few minutes late for wherever you’re heading.
Sources: Supplied
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