US EditionIUCN Lists Emperor Penguin and Antarctic Fur Seal as Endangered
Climate change and shrinking sea ice drove the reclassification, with emperor penguin numbers down about 10% and fur seals down more than 50%.
- On Wednesday, the International Union for Conservation of Nature classified emperor penguins and Antarctic fur seals as "endangered," citing human-induced environmental impacts including warming ocean waters and shrinking sea ice.
- Climate change poses the "most significant threat" to emperor penguins, according to Dr. Philip Trathan of the IUCN's penguin specialist group, as reduced sea ice pushes krill into deeper waters, limiting food availability.
- Emperor penguin populations fell about 10% between 2009 and 2018, totaling more than 20,000 adults lost, while Antarctic fur seal numbers dropped more than 50 percent since 1999 to 944,000 last year.
- Southern elephant seals were also moved from "least concern" to "vulnerable" following population declines caused by a deadly contagious pathogen, while both endangered species now rank two steps below "extinction in the wild."
- Ahead of next month's Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting in Japan, WWF Australia's oceans conservation manager Emily Grilly urged nations to declare both species "specially protected" to defend against industrial fishing and tourism threats.
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Due to climate change, approximately 20,000 adult penguins disappeared between 2009 and 2018 alone, which is about 10 percent of the population.
The emperor penguin, which had previously been listed as a potentially endangered species on the so-called Red List, has been reclassified as an endangered species. It is threatened with extinction due to climate change, which will halve its population by 2080.
Emperor penguins added to endangered species 'Red List' as 10% die off in a decade
The International Union for Conservation of Nature updated its Red List on Thursday, detailing the latest conservation statuses and extinction risks of some well-known and overlooked species. One of the biggest bombshells of this update is that the IUCN declared emperor penguins as an endangered species. The group also moved Antarctic fur seals into the endangered category and southern elephant seals into the vulnerable category. Researchers exp…
Iconic Emperor Penguins Declared ‘Endangered’ Amid Climate Threats
What happens when the coldest place on Earth… isn’t cold enough anymore? For the Emperor penguin, the answer is becoming painfully clear.In a stark warning, the International Union for Conservation of Nature has upgraded the species’ status from “near threatened” to “endangered.” That’s not just a label—it’s a red flag. And the culprit? Climate change.These iconic Antarctic birds depend on sea ice like we depend on solid ground. It’s where they …
The Emperor's Penguin in Antarctica is getting worse and worse as a result of climate change. The World Conservation Union (IUCN) considers it "highly endangered" on its scale of endangered species.
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