Latest News

11 August 2010
Penguin numbers fall
(New Zealand)
Yellow-eyed penguin breeding numbers in the 2009-10 season are down 20% on last year’s figures, but the Department of Conservation (DOC) is not concerned. DOC biodiversity ranger Mel Young told attendees at the Yellow-eyed Penguin Annual Symposium in Dunedin that while the recorded figure of 496 breeding pairs on Otago's coastline was down from last year's 577, DOC was not worried. "Anything between 450 and 500 breeding pairs is great. It maintains the breeding numbers we’ve had over the last 30 years."
Read Otago Daily Times article

Injured penguin preparing to stand on own two flippers
(New Zealand)
A little blue penguin is preparing to return to sea after being washed up on Muriwai Beach.
The penguin had head and leg injuries after being battered by waves. She was unable to walk or stand and needed her caregiver, a bird rescue volunteer, to lead her around. Having been nursed back to health, the penguin is almost ready to stand on her own two flippers and return to sea.
Read 3 News article and watch video

10 August 2010
Penguins affected by oil slick in Brazil
(Brazil)
As many as 20 oiled penguins were found after oil washed up on beaches north of Rio de Janeiro over the weekend. An unidentified oil tanker is suspected to be responsible for the slick. Beachgoers found the penguins on the beaches, contacted authorities, and a government biological agency cleaned and cared for the birds. While officials say one of the affected penguins has died, the others seem to be recovering.
Read Business Week article - Penguin rescued from oil slick dies in Brazil
Read AFP article - Oil tanker suspected in penguin-killing slick near Rio

3 August 2010
Penguin pics track changes
(Antarctica)
Tasmanian scientists have developed technology to help improve the monitoring of Adélie penguins in Antarctica – a special camera built to withstand the Antarctic elements. The new camera means researchers can monitor multiple locations without having to put researchers on-site, which is very costly.
Read ABC News article

Metal band record duet with penguin
(UK)
Metal band G.U. Medicine have confirmed plans to record a duet with a rockhopper penguin. The Yorkshire-based band will work with Ricky the penguin from ZSL London Zoo as part of a campaign for Jägermeister. One of Ricky's keepers said "although he has never worked with a music group before I'm sure he will be in fine voice". The finished duet will be available as a free download from the Jägermeister website from 16 August.
Read Digital Spy article

2 August 2010
Five penguins win US Endangered Species Act protection
(USA)
Five penguin species will get US Endangered Species Act protections after a 2006 petition by the Center for Biological Diversity and two lawsuits filed jointly with Turtle Island Restoration Network. The US Interior Department decision will list the Humboldt penguin of Chile and Peru and four New Zealand penguins, the yellow-eyed, white-flippered, Fiordland crested and erect-crested, as threatened. The US law change will mean people carrying out activities overseen by US authorities such as high seas fisheries will be liable for any harm to the listed species.
Read Center for Biological Diversity press release
Read related NZ Herald article

Mapping penguin colonies from space - using penguin poo
(Antarctica)
Penguin poo, or guano, can provide scientists with a wealth of information, especially when viewed from space. The guano’s distribution shows up on high resolution satellite images and can be used to work out the spatial extent of a penguin colony. Biologists at the Australian Antarctic Division have used this to develop maps of habitat occupied by Adélie penguin colonies. Such maps, used in combination with an estimate of penguin numbers within smaller parts of the habitat, could enable accurate estimates of penguin numbers across very broad regions. The feasibility of this technique has recently been explored at the Australian Antarctic Data Centre.
Read Australian Antarctic Division article
Read related Australian Geographic article Penguin poo gives clue from space

29 July 2010
Crisis resolved as penguin chicks numbered rise
(South Africa)
Officials at the Addo Elephant National Park have confirmed the former African penguin crisis at Bird Island has been resolved since a rise in temperatures has coincided with the current breeding season. At least 480 penguin chicks froze to death in June when wet and chilly conditions took a toll on the penguin breeding colonies, but no chicks have died since then.
Read Eyewitness News article

25 July 2010
Penguin deaths investigated
(Brazil)
An initial investigation by the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) has found that the deaths of over 500 Magellanic penguins were the result of an abrupt temperature change in their migration waters. The penguins were found washed ashore on Brazilian beaches at the beginning of July. However, regional chief of IBMA, Ingrid Maria Furlan Oberg, described the number of dead animals as still falling within the normal range for this time of the year, saying that the deaths are a result of natural causes.
Read The Epoch Times article

21 July 2010
More than 60 penguins rescued on Uruguayan coast
(Uruguay)
More than 60 Magellanic penguins who migrated from the southern tip of Argentina and are battling pollution-related health problems have been rescued on the Uruguayan coast by the Society for the Conservation of the Biodiversity of Maldonado (SOCOBIOMA). SOCOBIOMA spokesman Daniel Donate said the penguins were found with symptoms of dehydration and hypothermia stemming from oil slicks in that area.
Read Latin American Herald Tribune article
View SF Gate photo

Fear of the dark may lead to penguin extinction
(Antarctica)
Will Adélie penguins go extinct because they can’t find food in the darkness of the Antarctic winter? A recent paper published in Ecology says this is a possibilty. Research conducted at two colonies in the Ross sea, the first study to show the complete migratory and wintering locations of Adélie penguins, has found that the birds need both ice and light, even just twilight, to find food in the winter. And as climate change causes the winter ice to retract south into the darkness, penguins won’t have what they need to survive and could ultimately face extinction as a result.
Read PRBO Conservation Science press release

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