Are Penguins In Danger?
Penguins are considered to be a bird with wings, but cannot fly. The wings act like fins and help them swim. There are currently 17 known species of penguins. Of these 17 species, 11 are listed as endangered species of animals. From different parts of the world like Australia, Galapagos Islands, Antarctica, South Africa, New Zealand, and South America, you will find the same problem of penguins potentially becoming extinct.
Definitely, with so many different issues like global warming and human disturbances, penguins are in grave danger. Not only are they vulnerable to the usual predators like sharks, seals, and killer whales from the water, they have to fight off the skua, pampas cats and foxes while on land. To survive, they have to select land where there are minimal risks.
Unfortunately, they are helpless when it comes to oil spills, and it has a devastating effect on them. The oil will coat their outer protection and prevent them from being mobile and able to hunt for their food. The food sources, presumably will also be tainted with oil, and this will result in starvation for the penguins.
Furthermore, they are quickly losing their food source even without the deadly oil spills, because large fishing vessels over-fish. There have even been cases of penguins being getting snagged by the fishing nets and equipment and dying. There are still unscrupulous fishermen who intentionally kill penguins to get their blubber in order to make oil. Although this is illegal, sadly it is still happening because people will find a way, and it isn’t easy to monitor all fishing activities.
One of the most endangered species of animals, the Emperor Penguins, who live in Antarctica, will be extinct by the end of the century because of the shift in climate temperatures. Ice melting and the high heat in the area will make it impossible for these penguins to continue living.
To stop these endangered species of animals from being completely eradicated from the planet, a 6-pronged approach must be taken. These would highlight the potential risks penguins face. They are climate change, oil spills, threat to natural habitat, human disturbances, and natural predators. If these factors are taken very seriously into consideration, penguins can expect to live out their natural life expectancy of 10 to 25 years, and a 60% survival rate for baby penguins.
Reference: Illustrated Encyclopedia of endangered animals.
