African Penguin

The only penguin that breeds in Africa, it nests on warm islands and beaches rather than ice, and its bare pink patch of skin above each eye helps shed heat. Pairs bond for years and greet each other with a braying call that earned them the old name jackass penguin.

Once common by the million, the species has crashed past Endangered and into Critically Endangered territory as overfishing emptied the sardine and anchovy shoals its chicks depend on. Guano mining, oil spills, and ship noise have each taken a further toll.