Climate Change Strips Island's Title Of Largest Penguin Colony: Study
The researchers suggest that the "alarming declines" should lead to chinstrap penguins being redesignated as "endangered" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
A remote island near Antarctica has lost over two-thirds of its once-thriving chinstrap penguin colony due to climate change, according to a new study. The volcanic island of Zavodovski, which previously held the title of the largest penguin colony in the world, now has only 402,000 breeding individuals remaining out of the 1.09 million that were present in 2011.
The study, published in the journal Current Biology, attributes the decline to a reduction in krill availability, a main food source for chinstrap penguins. Warmer ocean temperatures have pushed the crustaceans south toward colder waters, beyond the tolerance range of chinstraps. This climate-induced shift has led to a linear decline in chinstrap numbers, with the population falling at a rate of 7% per year.
Macaroni penguins, which now outnumber chinstraps on the island, have also benefited from a wider range of prey. The researchers suggest that the chinstrap penguins should be reclassified as "endangered" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, downgrading from their current "least concern" status.
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