March of the Penguins: Boulders colony records its best numbers in years

Here’s a little something to brighten up your Friday. SANParks announced this week that the 2026 annual census at the Boulders colony in Simon’s Town has recorded its best numbers in years. 

About 790 breeding pairs were counted, up from 698 in 2025. That’s 92 more pairs deciding that Boulders Beach is, in fact, a great place to raise a family. A penguin family, of course.

Based on standard population estimates, the colony now supports roughly 2,528 individual penguins, accounting for 8 to 9% of South Africa’s entire African penguin population.

An endangered species

African penguins are critically endangered. Globally, fewer than 10,000 breeding pairs remain in the wild, according to SANCOBB.

To put that in perspective: in 1956, there were around 150,000 breeding pairs. The species has lost more than 80% of its breeding population in under 70 years.

The culprits are the usual suspects. Sardines and anchovies have shifted as ocean conditions change, forcing birds to swim further and burn more energy to eat. 

Add in habitat loss, disease, predation, and the general chaos humans tend to introduce to ecosystems, and you’ve got a species under pressure.

Which is why Boulders, as an outlier, is worth paying attention to. While many colonies continue to decline, the Boulders colony is holding and now growing. 

SANParks was careful not to declare victory. A single year’s uptick doesn’t mean the species is out of danger.

The team behind the count

The census wasn’t a one-person job with a clipboard. 

A collaborative team (SANParks, the DFFE, the CoCT, Cumic Rangers, SANCCOB, and a crew of volunteers) fan out across the colony every June using standardised, internationally recognised methods to make the count comparable year on year.

Penguins are not cooperative subjects. They bite. They smell. And they have strong opinions about personal space. It’s not all ‘Happy Feet’.

But the data it produces is what allows conservationists to track whether their interventions are actually doing anything.

This year, the answer appears to be yes.

Colonising Boulders

Boulders has been doing most of the heavy lifting. 

The colony, established in 1983 when a pair of penguins essentially showed up and decided to stay, has become one of the most important breeding sites in the country.

The 92 extra breeding pairs this year aren’t merely a statistic. There are 92 more couples incubating eggs, teaching chicks to swim. And giving the African penguin a slightly better shot at being here a generation from now.

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