file photo
The South African National Parks (SANParks) says the sudden death of 63 African penguins in a colony in Simonstown this week is believed to be a result of being stung by a swarm of Cape honey bees.
The dead penguins, with no visible external injuries, were found dead inside the Boulders African penguin colony on Friday.
A dead penguin was also discovered on Fish Hoek beach on Friday which the SANCCOB vet has confirmed also had multiple bee stings.
The dead birds were transported to SANCCOB in Cape Town for post-mortems, and biological samples were sent for disease and toxicology testing, although many dead bees were found at the site where the birds had died.
A Marine Biologist at SANParks Dr Alison Kock expressed her gratitude to all their conservation partners, especially SANCCOB and the City of Cape Town, for assisting them in investigating the unusual event.
No dead African penguins were found on Saturday and the situation will be monitored.
