The African penguin: a natural history

The Jackass (African) Penguin colony at Boulders Beach near Simonstown (Cape Town) is one of the country's biggest tourist attractions, drawing approximately 250,000 visitors per annum. These endemic birds and their peculiar antics are a source of enormous fascination for all who visit them. This guide examines the penguins' origins, their relation to other ocean birds, and various aspects of their behaviour and biology, including adaptation to life underwater, life on land, food and feeding, breeding and development of young.