Penguin news from January - maart 2008
Look out: These are older news flashes, so it's quite possible some links/sources doesn't work properly anymore!
- Stewart Island penguins fighting to survive (New Zealand - 11 January 2008)
Just six of 25 yellow-eyed penguin chicks hatched in monitored areas of Stewart Island have survived so far this summer, the Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust has said.
The island's penguin population faces an uncertain future after a devastating breeding season last summer in which all 33 chicks being monitored died. Breeding rates have been plummeting since monitoring began four years ago.
Source: Stuff.co.nz (Eng)
- King penguins are threathened (Antarctica - 12 February 2008)
King penguins are a species that do not feed on the tiny krill and other crustaceans but their prefered foods are small fish and squid.
In a research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), scientists indicated that the global warming threathens the food chain of the king penguins.
Even the tiniest warming of the Southern Ocean has an direct effect of the amount of fish and squid. Fish and squid, in turn, eat the tiny krill, who are very sensitive to the rise in temperature. An increase of just 0.25 degrees Celsius (0.45 degrees Fahrenheit) in surface sea temperature translated into a nine-percent decline in an adult bird's chance of survival, Le Maho calculates. This warming causes a massive fall in the birds' ability to survive.
The report was the result of a study, done by scientists at the CNRS Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien in Strasbourg, France, who studied king penguins on Possession Island on the Crozet archipelago in the southern Indian Ocean over nine years.
Source: Reuters UK (Eng), Planet Ark (Eng) and CNRS (Fr)
- King penguins no longer in Wilhelma zoo Stuttgart (Germany - 7 March 2008)
The Wilhelma zoo in Stuttgart (Germany) stops keeping king penguins. The exhibit is outdated and not true-to-nature anymore, so the zoo decided to stop keeping king penguins. Furthermore the European climate is warming up and the sub-Antarctic birds don't cope with it very well. Each summer they stay in their cold store and only leave it to go outside by night.
The four last king penguins can stay till they die, but as they are already 36 years old, it will not last very long. Penguins in the wild does only live around 15-20 years, but in captivity this can be much longer. ( see also lifespan or longevity).
Afterwards no new king penguins will come.
Source: Pressehaus Heidenheim (GE)
- Penguins facing a rocky road to survive (New Zealand - 3 March 2008)
According to a study, recently published in the New Zealand Journal of Zoology road kill has been identified as a contributor to the declining populations of blue penguins in some parts of New Zealand.
The population of blue penguins in New Zealand, estimated at about 50,000, is overall in decline, especially on the mainland.
While predators such as mustelids were generally thought to be the main cause of the declining populations of blue penguins there, the researchers found that on the West Coast, roadkill was a factor.
Source: NZ Herald (Eng)
- Sandy has found a new love. (Germany - 8 March 2008)
The lovestory of the female african penguin Sandy in the Allwetterzoo in Münster (Germany) gets an unexpected sequel.
Apparently Sandy has found a new love, after 11 years of love for a human man. When Peter Vollbracht was ill last year and couldn't work for some months, Sandy fell in love with a penguin man. The penguin stays nearby her and they made a nest together, in which Sandy laid 2 eggs. After a few weeks breeding they turned out to be unfertilized, so the attendant took them away.
Pity, but in August starts a new breeding season and hopefully a lucky one for Sandy and her new man too.
And although her love to Peter changed to friendship, he still can take her on his arm and she still allows visitors to caress her.
Source: Echo Münster (GE)
- Penguin droppings help identify pesticide hot spots (Antarctica - 11 March 2008)
Scientists from the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) have found that Antarctica has become a hot spot for chemicals that are used thousands of kilometres away from the icy continent - by looking at Adelie penguin guano.
Source: ABC News (Eng), Planet Ark (Eng) and Virginia Institute of Marine Science (Eng)
Penguin news from April - June 2008
Look out: These are older news flashes, so it's quite possible some links/sources doesn't work properly anymore!
- Flying penguins on BBC documentary (UK - 2 April 2008)
April fool made by BBC show flying adelie penguins.
Source: Birdlife.org, You tube video and You tube making of
- 'Sex pest' seal attacks penguin (Antarctica - 5 May 2008)
An Antarctic fur seal has been observed trying to mate with a king penguin. The South African-based scientists who witnessed the incident say it is the most unusual case of mammal mating behaviour yet known. The incident, which lasted for 45 minutes and was caught on camera, is reported in the Journal of Ethology. The researchers speculate that the male seal was too young to win access to female seals, and in a state of sexual excitement, looked elsewhere.
The penguin did not appear to have been injured by the seal, the scientists report.
Source: BBC (Eng) and Digital Journal (Eng)
- Sphenisco (Germany - 7 June 2008)
In the zoo Landau they founded a new organsiation for protecting humboldt penguins. They work together with other zoos in Germany, organisations in Chile and the World Association of Zoos and Aquaria (WAZA).
Source: Sphenisco (D), WAZA project (Eng) and Humboldt penguin pdf (Eng)
- Dozens of dead, oil-covered penguins appear on Uruguayan beaches (South America - 9 June 2008)
At least 60 dead Magellanic penguins have washed up on Uruguay's coast in an incident that an environmentalist linked to a fuel spill following a boat crash near Montevideo's port days ago.
Source: Herald Tribune (Eng)
- How a wire on a bird keeps watch on food chain (Australia - 21 June 2008)
They're one of Victoria's most popular tourist attractions and this year they are being watched closer than ever.
Phillip Island Nature Park is using satellite tracking devices to monitor its little penguin colony as two major infrastructure projects impinge on the birds' territory: the dredging of Port Phillip Bay and the proposed desalination plant near Wonthaggi.
Source: The Age (Eng)
- Passports for penguins (South Africa - 27 June 2008)
Scientists at the University of Bristol in Britain, in conjunction with the University of Cape Town's Animal Demography Unit (ADU) in South Africa, have developed an identification system based on smart technology that recognises and tracks individual African penguins. The technology records the unique pattern of black spots on the penguins' chests via remote camera sensing.
Source: Eurekalert (Eng), Der Standard (GE), Spot the penguin project (Eng) and Times online (Eng)
- Penguins setting off sirens over health of world's oceans (USA - 30 June 2008)
Like the proverbial canary in the coal mine, penguins are sounding the alarm for potentially catastrophic changes in the world's oceans, and the culprit isn't only climate change, says University of Washington conservation biologist Dee Boersma in a paper published in the journal BioScience.
Oil pollution, depletion of fisheries and rampant coastline development that threatens breeding habitat for many penguin species, along with Earth's warming climate, are leading to rapid population declines among penguins, said Dee Boersma, a University of Washington biology professor and an authority on the flightless birds.
Source: University of Washington News (Eng), ENN (Eng) and
Bioscience article (Eng)
Penguin news from July - September 2008
Look out: These are older news flashes, so it's quite possible some links/sources doesn't work properly anymore!
- Presence of Plasmodium detected in Galapagos penguins (3 July 2008)
Scientists have found Plasmodium, the blood-bourne parasite that can cause avian malaria, in Galapagos penguins. Immediate studies are needed to document the proportion of birds infected, and to begin to estimate the parasite's impact and consider approaches to disease control.
Source: Charles Darwin Foundation
- The baby Antarctic penguins being frozen to death by freak rain storms (Antarctica - 13 July 2008)
Tens of thousands of newly-born penguins are freezing to death as Antarctica is lashed by freak rain storms. Adelie penguins are born with a thin covering of down and it takes 40 days for them to grow protective water-repellent feathers. With epic rains drenching their ancestral nesting grounds, their parents try to protect them. But when the adults leave to fish for food, or are killed by predators such as seals, the babies become soaked to the skin and die from hypothermia.
Emperor chicks are similar to the Adelie - they are downy and not waterproof and could not survive in the cold sea for any period of time. 'These penguins are sentinels who are showing we really are looking at big changes in the world's climate.' A spokeswoman for the British Antarctic Survey, said that 50 years ago two days of snow were recorded for every one day of rain at the region's Faraday meteorological station. 'Now, in the past few years, the trend is two days of rain to every one day of snow.'
Source: Daily mail (Eng)
- Rehabilitated penguins are released following oil spill in Uruguay (Uruguay - 17 July 2008)
After a thorough rehabilitation process conducted by wildlife specialists, 40 magellanic penguins were returned to their ocean home off the coast of Maldonado, Uruguay. More than 14,000 cubic metres of fuel oil were spilled when two tankers collided 20 km from the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo in early June. The spill affected hundreds of birds, including almost 150 penguins.
Source: IFAW (Eng) and ENN (Eng)
- Penguins wash ashore in Brazil, prompting concerns about their habitat (Brazil - 23 July 2008)
More then 400 of young magellanic penguins washing up over the past month along the shoreline of the Rio de Janeiro state has sparked a scientific mystery over what may have led the birds thousands of miles astray. They began appearing in late June, many of them dead or barely alive. They arrived on beaches all over south-eastern Brazil about 2,500 miles from their native southern Patagonia.
"It appears the penguins are not finding fish where they normally do, and one reason could be that warming waters and climate change have impacted the fish population.", according to biologist Marcelo Bertellotti at the National Patagonic Center in Puerto Madryn, Argentina.
The penguins that recover in Niteroi will be flown to Barcellos' museum, where they'll be released into the ocean. And from there, biologists hope, the penguins will find their way back into the migratory cycle that so many of them strayed from this year.
Source: Guardian (Eng) and Der Standard (GE)
- Losing count (Antarctica - 1 August 2008)
Scientists know very well that the cold and dry peninsula is turning into a warmer and wet subantarctic ecosystem. But blaming warming temperatures for everything simplifies the problem, according to Ron Naveen. Diminishing sea ice, declining krill populations. Increasing snowfall and rain. And now it appears even ticks are harassing Adélie penguins along the rapidly warming Antarctic Peninsula. Adélie penguins are struggling to survive, but surprising, gentoos are thriving. "This correlates quite specifically to temperature data in the region." But what is the chain of events? How do all of these pieces of the climate change puzzle fit together? A lot of study has to be done before understanding it all.
Source: The Antarctic Sun (Eng)
- King penguin receives Norwegian knighthood (UK - 15 August 2008)
Nils Olav was knighted on Friday in Edinburgh zoo. He already has medals for good conduct and long service. And he made honorary colonel-in-chief of the elite Norwegian King's Guard in 2005.
Source: ENN and BBC
- Penguins dumping arsenic in Antarctica (Antarctica - 21 August 2008)
According to new research from the Institute of Polar Environment at the University of Science and Technology of China, penguin guano is the main source of arsenic accumulation in Antarctic soil. It is not known why the contaminant should be excreted more by penguins than by other top predators, such as seals but "It may be related to how arsenic is metabolised by penguins," says Xie. The findings suggest that gentoo penguin populations can be used as a gross indicator of arsenic levels in Antarctic soil.
Source: New Scientist
- Oil covered penguins washed up on Brazilian beaches (Brazil - 28 August 2008)
More than 200 oil-slicked penguins have washed up dead on the beaches of a popular Brazilian resort. And they have 155 live penguins they are treating for oil intoxication, according to a veterinarian with a group caring for the surviving birds. Officials say they are searching for a cause.
Source: Mercopress
- Penguins marching toward Endangered Species Act Protection; court deadline set for 10 species (USA - 9 September 2008)
A federal judge has approved a settlement between the Center for Biological Diversity and the US Fish and Wildlife Service over the fate of 10 penguin species imperiled by global warming. Under the settlement, the Service must complete its overdue finding on whether the penguins should be protected under the US Endangered Species Act by 19 December.
Source: Center for Biological Diversity and ENN
- Magellanic penguins begin their arrival to Argentine coasts (Argentina - 21 September 2008)
The migratory magellanic penguins travel thousands of kilometres every year around this time from the coasts of Brazil to meet their partners in Patagonia's penguin colonies, where they will mate and breed for the next few months.
Source: eitb24
- Future of yellow-eyed penguins remains uncertain (New Zealand - 30 September 2008)
Stewart Island has reported to have recorded the best yellow-eyed penguin breeding season since monitoring began there five years ago but the birds' future remains uncertain in some areas, the Yellow-Eyed Penguin Trust said.
Source: Southland Times
Penguin news from October - December 2008
Look out: These are older news flashes, so it's quite possible some links/sources doesn't work properly anymore!
- What drives evolution? (Antarctica - 7 October 2008)
Research looking at Antarctic penguins suggests that genetic evolution is not necessarily reflected in an animal's physical appearance. The study compared DNA extracted from ancient Adelie penguin bones to DNA from living penguins. It found that while genetic mutation and evolution had occurred at a faster rate than predicted, the penguins had changed very little in physical appearance over the same period.
Source: University of Auckland
- Antarctic penguins under pressure (Antarctica - 9 October 2008)
Half of Antartica's emperor penguin colonies and three-quarters of its Adelie penguin colonies face severe decline or extinction if global temperatures are allowed to climb by more than 2°C, according to a report released today by WWF.
Source: WWF report, ENN and National Geographic
- 'Food scarcity' plunges penguin tally (South Africa - 22 October 2008)
The African penguin population in the Western Cape has extremely declined from more than 30 000 breeding pairs in 2005 to just 12 000 in 2008 - the lowest ever recorded. Scientists say the drop in numbers is 'alarming' and it appears a scarcity of food may be the cause.
Source: IOL.co.za
- Secret to penguin locomotion revealed (USA - 13 November 2008)
A new study has found what makes penguins so agile underwater - it's all about how they move their wings. By twisting their wings while pumping them under water to swim, the birds are able to vary the thrust of their flapping and increase control over their movements. The motion is so useful that researchers are testing it out on prototypes for new underwater spy vehicles.
Source: LiveScience
- Penguin bones reveal long-lost species (New Zealand - 19 November 2008)
Ancient DNA from penguin fossils in New Zealand has revealed a previously unknown penguin species: the Waitaha penguin. Australian and New Zealand researchers made the discovery while investigating changes in the yellow-eyed penguin population. The Waitaha penguin once occupied the yellow-eyed penguin's range and was forced into extinction by human arrival between 1300 and 1500 CE.
Source: University of Otago, University of Adelaide and ScienceAlert
- Conserving Patagonia's marine riches (South America - 3 December 2008)
A team of international collaborators have launched a book to help conserve one of the richest marine areas on earth. It identifies the main problems facing the conservation and sustainable use of the Patagonian Sea. The Patagonian Sea covers over 3 million km2 and is home to a great diversity of marine species, including albatrosses and penguins. It extends from the south of Brazil to Tierra del Fuego, in the Atlantic, passing Cape Horn and along the Fuegian channels and fjords of the south of Chile.
Source: Birdlife International
- Tragedy at Aachener zoo after 13 penguins playing in the snow are killed by a fox (Germany - 3 December 2008)
Thirteen African penguins at the Aachener zoo in Germany are killed by a wild fox who broke into their enclosure at night. Among the victims were birds Nena and Adi that zoo boss Wolfram Graf Rudolf had personally raised as well as another one-eyed bird, known as Captain Hook who had lived at the zoo for 24 years. Nineteen birds survived the tragedy, they escaped, fleeing in their burrows.
Source: Daily Mail and Focus.de (GE)
- Proposal to add five penguin species to endangered species list (USA - 17 December 2008)
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to list the African penguin as endangered and five other species - the yellow-eyed, white flippered, Fiordland crested, erect-crested and Humboldt - as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
Unfortunately Bush Administration denies protection for the emperor penguin: article
Source: US Fish and Wildlife Service
- Conservationists try to prevent African penguin extinction (South Africa - 29 December 2008)
Millions of African penguins once bred on the beaches along the continent's southern coast. But their population is seriously declining and conservationists have begun drastic measures to prevent the species from going extinct. They are installing artificial nests to help the penguins survive. They are even feeding wild penguins by hand.
Source: VOA News
- A happy new year for penguins (Argentina - 30 December 2008)
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) announced today that its efforts to protect a wildlife-rich coastal region in South America have paid off in the form of a new coastal marine park recently signed into law by the Government of Argentina. The park, which became official earlier this month, protects half a million Magellanic penguins along with several species of rare seabirds and the region's only population of South American fur seals.
As pdf about magellanic penguins: WCS
Source: EurekAlert
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