It has been confirmed by the Table Mountain National Park that a bee swarm killed 63 endangered African penguins on a beach near Cape Town last week.
Veterinarians from the South African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (Sanccob) did post mortems on the penguins to find their cause of death after the penguins were discovered without any other wounds or bite marks. It was found that they likely died sometime between Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. The post mortems showed that they all had multiple bee stings and many dead bees were found at the site.
“Therefore, preliminary investigations suggest that the penguins died because of being stung by a swarm of Cape honey bees,” said park authorities. Experts are still running toxicity tests and checking for diseases to rule out other causes of death, they said.
Dr. David Roberts, a clinical veterinarian at Sanccob, said that a bee nest in the area must have been disturbed which resulted in the swarm attacking the penguins.
He said that, “This is a very rare occurrence. We do not expect it to happen often. The penguins… must not die just like that as they are already in danger of extinction. They are a protected species.”
He also said that the hive where the bees originated from has not yet been identified or moved.
Sources: Business Insider, MSN
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