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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