Bees kill dozens of endangered penguins on South Africa beach

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A swarm of bees has killed 63 endangered African penguins on a beach outside Cape Town, according to an AFP report .</p>
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The protected birds were found dead in a small town near Cape Town home to a colony of penguins, and post-mortems revealed that all the penguins had multiple bee stings. </p>
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“After tests, we found bee stings around the penguins’ eyes,” the report cited David Roberts a veterinarian of Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) as saying.</p>
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“There were also dead bees on the scene,” he told AFP by telephone.</p>
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“This is a very rare occurrence,” he added.</p>
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The area is a national park and the Cape honeybees are part of the ecosystem.</p>
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South African National Parks said samples had also been sent for disease and toxicology testing.</p>
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“There were no external physical injuries found on any of the birds,” a parks statement said.</p>
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Penguins cannot fly but they fulfil all the biological requirements to be classified as birds – they have feathers, they lay eggs and they're warm-blooded. There are also other flightless birds  like emus, ostriches and cassowaries.</p>
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SANCCOB said they would keep a "watchful eye" on the birds.</p>
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"Our rangers and SANParks will monitor the nests in the area as some of these birds would have had eggs and chicks," the organisation said in a statement on its social media.</p>
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"One partner often can't supply sufficient food or leave the chicks alone."</p>
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The organisation said numbers of the penguins were dwindling and the species could be extinct by 2035.</p>
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African penguins, which inhabit the coast and islands of southern Africa, are on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s red list.</p>
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<strong>Also read: <a href="https://www.indianarrative.com/science-news/over-dolphins-slaughtered-in-denmark-in-a-gory-hunt-114843.html">Over 1,400 dolphins slaughtered in Denmark in a gory hunt</a></strong></p>