Swarm of bees kills dozens of endangered African penguins

Port Elizabeth, South Africa – A swarm of bees has killed 63 endangered African penguins on a beach outside Cape Town, the Coastal Bird Conservation Foundation of Southern Africa said on Sunday.

“After testing, we found bee stings around the eyes of the penguins,” said David Roberts, a foundation’s clinical veterinarian.

“It’s a very rare event. You don’t expect it to happen often, it’s a fluke,” he told AFP by phone, adding that dead bees had also found at the scene.

The protected birds, found on Friday, came from a colony in Simonstown, a small town near Cape Town.

The area is a national park and the Cape honey bees are part of the ecosystem.

“The penguins … must not die like this because they are already in danger of extinction. It is a protected species,” said Roberts.

South African National Parks said the birds were taken to the foundation for autopsies and samples sent for disease and toxicology testing.

“There were no external physical injuries found on any of the birds,” a park statement said.

Autopsies showed that all of the penguins had multiple bee stings.

African penguins, which inhabit the coast and islands of southern Africa, are on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s red list, which means they face a high risk of extinction.