Emperor penguins are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act because the animals’ sea ice habitat is shrinking, federal officials announced Tuesday. Experts predict that 99% of the world’s emperor penguin population will go extinct by 2100 without significantly reducing carbon pollution.
Antarctic sea ice, where penguins spend most of the year, is in danger. Heat-trapping gases released by humans using fossil fuels are causing the ice to disappear and fall apart. Its ice is essential for animal livelihoods. It is a place where animals breed, raise their chicks and escape predators.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, “endangered” means that the species may face extinction across its entire range or most of it. “Threatened” means that the species is likely to be endangered in the near future. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, there are 625,000 to 650,000 emperor penguins in the wild, and 270,000 to 280,000 breeding pairs.
The service’s director, Martha Williams, said in a statement that the list reflected a “growing extinction crisis”.
“Climate change is severely impacting species around the world, and addressing it is a priority for the administration,” Williams said. “The emperor penguin listing is not only a wake-up call, but a call to action.”
More than a year after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released its proposal to protect penguins, the designation marks dozens of species the federal government considers threatened by climate change, including polar bears and two species of seals. classifies the penguin as one of the animals in 20 types of coral.
The Endangered Species Act is the world’s most powerful law aimed at preventing extinction and promoting the recovery of endangered species, according to a news release from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, a research institution in Massachusetts. environmental law. This legal list facilitates international cooperation on conservation strategies. The species has not been found in the United States, but federal agencies must ensure that projects that emit large amounts of carbon pollution do not threaten penguins or their environment.
“Like many species on Earth, emperor penguins face a highly uncertain future,” said Stephanie Geneuvelier, an associate scientist and seabird ecologist at Woods Hole. “We should take inspiration from the penguins themselves. Only together can we face the future of
It’s been more than a decade since the Center for Biodiversity petitioned the Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the emperor penguins under the Endangered Species Act, the news release said. In 2014, the agency agreed that animals may be endangered due to climate change, but took no action. Five years later, the center sued the Trump administration for not responding to the petition.
There are 18 species of penguin, with the emperor penguin being the tallest at about 4 feet. and Adele, medium sized penguin It is the only penguin in Antarctica that has white rings around its eyes. Emperor penguins are an integral part of the Antarctic food chain, preying on squid and small fish and being preyed on by larger predators such as leopard seals and killer whales.
Caring for young children is a job that involves parents. After laying one egg, the female hunts, and the male holds it in his legs and covers it with a feather pouch. Once the eggs hatch, the parents take turns caring for the chicks. Young penguins, whose adult feathers do not develop before the sea ice disappears, cannot swim in the frozen waters and die.
Emperor penguins do not do well on land. They cannot climb frozen cliffs and are vulnerable to temperate climates and high winds. over 10,000 chicks lost after a period of
Amanda Holpucci contributed to the report.