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South Africa

600 Penguins Die in Cold Snap

Rain, cold, claim many endangered birds.

A sudden cold snap has killed about 600 endangered penguins on Bird Island, in Algoa Bay, South Africa. The rain and wind over the last two days was too much for many of the birds, especially little chicks, who have only down feathers for protection. African penguins were added to the endangered-species list this month; about 150,000 pairs were alive in 1956, but last year there were just 26,000 pairs. There are just 700 breeding pairs on Bird Island, so losing half the chicks could be devastating to the penguin population there.

Read it at The Guardian

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