The critically endangered African penguin has several predators to fear, including gulls, seals and sharks at sea, and leopards, caracals, domestic dogs and mongoose on land. A recent study has now documented the first confirmed case of yet another predator: a Cape clawless otter was observed preying on the African penguins of a mainland colony. African penguins (Spheniscus demersus) historically bred on islands around South Africa and Namibia, where they were safe from larger mainland mammalian predators like leopards and caracals. However, as growing human settlements kept large predators at bay, the penguins began establishing mainland colonies. One such mainland colony is in Simon’s Town, along South Africa’s southwest coast. Between 2020 and 2023, the penguin population there has declined from 1,100 breeding pairs to 870, the study’s authors write. Local authorities first observed Cape clawless otters (Aonyx capensis), which typically eat fish and crustaceans, near the Simon’s Town penguin colony in September 2022. They also found seven penguin carcasses, but couldn’t confirm what had killed them. In March 2023, authorities finally caught an otter in the act: they observed and photographed a female otter attacking penguins. They rescued two adult penguins and recovered carcasses of three others and sent them to the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) for autopsy. With the predator visually confirmed, SANCCOB researchers were able to record and identify the characteristic measurements, location and nature of the wounds linked to otter attacks. “This will help separate otter predation from other predators,”…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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