The African Penguin The small African Penguin lives in south and southwest Africa. It only stands about twenty-seven and a half inches off the ground and weighs about six and four tenths pounds. The African Penguin is black and white. It has a broad black band that curves around their front and looks like an inverted horseshoe, and their chest is dotted with a few black spots in random patterns. When they are young, African Penguins are very dependent on their mother for food in which they eat fish and crustaceans and protection. It does not even learn how to swim until it is about nine weeks old