How
do humans exploit penguins?
In numerous places around the world, penguins have been exploited for food,
oil and skins and even used as fish bait. As well as adult penguins, their
eggs have also been exploited and in some places they are still collected
today.
Tourism is another form of exploitation. There are many sites in the world
where tourists can visit penguins in the wild and this is not always beneficial to the penguins or their environment. Penguins are also taken from the wild
and held in zoos for benefit of us curious humans.
How
do penguins communicate?
Penguins communicate using calls and visual displays. These are used for
such purposes as declaring territory, showing agression or submission, attracting
and greeting mates.
Click on an icon to hear some penguins:
Blue Penguin
Yellow-eyed penguin
Snares penguin
Fiordland penguin
Fiordland penguin chick
How
many penguins are there and where do they live?
Most authors recognise 17 species of penguin, but cases have been made to
separate the rockhoppers into northern and southern species and to separate
the white-flippered penguin from the blue penguin.
The species and sub-species currently recognised are;
Common name
Scientific name
Range
Population
Genus Aptenodytes
(breeding
pairs)
King
Aptenodytes patagonicus
Subantarctic and Antarctic islands
between 46° and 55° south.
1,100,000
Emperor
Aptenodytes forsteri
Antarctic pack-ice zone
400,000
Genus Pygoscelis
Gentoo
Pygoscelis papua
Subantarctic islands and the
Antarctic Peninsula
600,000
Adelie
Pygoscelis adeliae
Antactic continent and islands
5,000,000
Chinstrap
Pygoscelis antarctica
Antarctic peninsula and subantarctic
islands
7,500,000
Genus Eudyptes
Rockhopper
Eudyptes chrysocome
Subantarctic islands
100,000
(Southern)
Subantarctic islands south of
Antarctic Polar front.
(Northern)
Subantarctic islands north of
Antarctic Polar front.
Fiordland crested
Eudyptes pachyrynchus
Fiordland and Stewart Island
coasts of New Zealand
5,000
Snares crested
Eudyptes robustus
Snares Islands, New Zealand
30,000
Erect-crested
Eudyptes sclateri
New Zealand subantarcic islands
150,000
Macaroni
Eudyptes chrysolophus
Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctic
and Subantarctic islands
11,800,000
Royal
Eudyptes schlegeli
Macquarie Island, south of Australia
850,000
Genus Megadyptes
Yellow-eyed
Megadyptes antipodes
South-east coast of New Zealand,
Campbell and Auckland Islands
5,000
Genus Eudyptula
Blue (little)
Eudyptula minor
New Zealand and Southern Australia
500,000
(White-flippered)
Eudyptula minor albosignata
Banks Peninsula and Motunau
Island, New Zealand
Genus Spheniscus
Magellanic
Spheniscus magellanicus
Southern Argentina and Chile,
Falkland Islands
750,000
African
Spheniscus demersus
South-east coast of South Africa
and Namibia
50,000
Humbolt
Spheniscus humboltdi
Peru and Chile
30,000
Galapagos
Spheniscus mendiculus
Galapagos Islands, Equador
3,000
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