Penguins can live in almost any climate on earth. They live in hot climates like the Galapagos Islands and South Africa. They also live in the coldest places on earth. Yet several species are endangered. These include the: Yellow-eyed Penguin, Northern Rockhopper Penguin, African Penguin, Galapagos Penguin, and Erect-crested Penguin.
Galapagos Penguin
El Niño warming events and climate change are a big threat to penguins in the Galapagos Islands (near Ecuador). Lower fish populations are a consequence of El Niño, and result in penguin starvation, abandonment of chicks. Relatively few, or no chicks, can be born during El Niño years. In 1982-3, and 1997-8, as many as 60% of penguins perished.
Galapagos penguins are a smaller penguin breed. They weigh about 9 lbs (4 kg) and can be 20 in (50 cm) tall. Dr. Dee Boersma, of the University of Washington, and her team, successfully increased Galapagos penguin numbers in 2010. The 120 nests in stacked lava rocks and in tunnels dug on Fernandina, Bartolomé Island, and the Mariela Islands were successful in increasing Galapagos penguin numbers.
Erect-crested Penguin
The distinctive erect-crested Penguin has cute yellow feathers above its eyes, and lives primarily in New Zealand. Much more common in the early, to mid 20th century, their numbers are thought to have declined by half. There are also worries that a single weather event, like a hurricane, could lead to their extinction.
Erect-crested penguins are about two feet tall (60 cm), and weigh approximately 13 lbs (6 kg). They are listed as endangered by the ICUN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature).
Yellow-eyed Penguin
Rare yellow-eyed penguins are also found in New Zealand. Yellow-eyed penguins breed annually, and often produce two eggs. Yellow-eyed penguin chicks do not leave the nest until they are about a year old, and grow to about 30 inches (75 cm) in height.
Stress on parents and chicks due to eco-tourism, egg-stealing by cats, ferrets, stoats, and dogs, as well as disease and habitat loss are taking a heavy toll on yellow-eyed penguins. They are also listed as endangered.
Northern Rockhopper Penguin
Rockhopper Penguin have large plumages of yellow feathers above their eyes that flare out from their bills to the back of their heads. They are small penguins, and have red eyes, black crests on their heads. Adults weigh approximately 3 kg (6 lbs), and are 20 inches (55 cm) tall.
The Northern Rockhopper penguin species saw a decline of 96 percent on the remote Gough and Tristan de Cunha Islands (in the south Atlantic Ocean), and are classified as endangered by the ICUN. Commercial and driftnet fishing, climate change, nest disturbance, oil pollution, and increased fur seal predation have been blamed.
African Penguin
International fishing near the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, is blamed for an African penguin population crash in the 2010’s. As few as 50,000 may only still be alive. Not only are penguins caught in fishing nets as bycatch, African penguins are starving, due to scarcity of fish, like anchovies and sardines.
International fishing near the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, is blamed for an African penguin population crash in the 2010’s. As few as 50,000 may only still be alive. Not only are penguins caught in fishing nets as bycatch, African penguins are starving, due to scarcity of fish, like anchovies and sardines.
Little Blue Penguin
The Little Blue Penguin is a smaller penguin species. It grows only to about a foot tall (30 cm) and weighs up to 3 lbs (1.5 kg).
In New South Wales, Australia–unlike New Zealand–Little Blue or Fairy penguins are protected by the 1995 Threatened Species Act. NSW is also the site of a Recovery Plan started in 2000.
Unfortunately, even during the Covid Pandemic, when many of us see the beauty of nature as being even more important, the developer of a marina in Waiheke Island is disturbing a colony of Little Blue Penguins. Regrettably, Fairy Penguins return to the spot that they were born, to nest, and rear their young.
The SKP or Save Kennedy Point organization is opposed to the new marina. Developers claim that they are being helped by the Hauraki Islands Branch of the Forest and Bird organization, but Ms. Saunders has commented that it is not true.
A lawsuit was launched in 2022 “[arguing] the department should not have issued authority for the Kennedy Point Marina Development Ltd to capture, handle and release the birds to make way for the marina construction, on their website, RNZ News (Radio New Zealand) reported.
Originally, wildlife rescuer Karen Saunders could not believe it when she received a phone call from the developer telling her to take the Little Blue Penguins away. Although as of 2022, some birds remained at Kennedy Point, nature groups are monitoring them closely.
January 20th is Penguin Awareness Day
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Sources
Penguin habitat on Waiheke Island could be destroyed for marina plans. (2021, June 14). New Zealand Herald. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/penguin-habitat-on-waiheke-island-could-be-destroyed-for-marina-plans/LN7JOMVQ6TBBWFZOS4LZ2ZRPXA/
Broken Homes and Hearts: The Little Blue Penguins Of Waiheke Island. (2021, April 15). Scoop Media. https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL2104/S00063/broken-homes-and-hearts-the-little-blue-penguins-of-waiheke-island.htm
Broken Homes and Hearts: The Little Blue Penguins Of Waiheke Island. (2021, April 15). Scoop Media. https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL2104/S00063/broken-homes-and-hearts-the-little-blue-penguins-of-waiheke-island.htm
Forest and Bird takes legal action over Waiheke Island little blue penguins. (2022, April 27). Radio New Zealand. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/465953/forest-and-bird-takes-legal-action-over-waiheke-island-little-blue-penguins
Northern Rockhopper Penguin Eudyptes moseleyi. (2021, May 7). BirdLife International. http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/northern-rockhopper-penguin-eudyptes-moseleyi
Rockhopper penguin. (2021). Brittanica. https://www.britannica.com/animal/rockhopper-penguin
Yellow-eyed Penguins – one of the rarest penguins in the world. (2020, January 21). Penguins International. https://www.penguinsinternational.org/2020/01/21/yellow-eyed-penguins-one-of-the-rarest-penguins-in-the-world/
Erect-crested Penguin.(2021). Penguin World. https://www.penguinworld.com/types/erect.html
Erect-crested Penguin.(2021, April 14). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erect-crested_penguin
Meet 5 of the world’s most endangered penguins.(2018, April 25). Marine Conservation Society. https://www.mcsuk.org/news/5-most-endangered-penguin-species
Galapagos Penguin Conservation. (2021). Galapagos Conservancy. https://www.galapagos.org/conservation/our-work/ecosystem-restoration/increasing-the-galapagos-penguin-population
Galapagos Penguin. (2021). Oceana.https://oceana.org/marine-life/seabirds/galapagos-penguin
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