The IUCN has moved emperor penguins from ‘Near Threatened’ to ‘Endangered’ following WWF-funded research
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Emperor penguins face population collapse and may be on a path toward extinction, according to the conservation organisation WWF.
The IUCN – the world’s oldest and largest global environmental network – downgraded the species’ status on its Red List by two places from ‘Near Threatened’ to ‘Endangered’, based on a prediction that their population could collapse by about half across the next 50 years.
Previous modelling has suggested further decline or even extinction by the end of the century. As such, urgent actions is required to halt climate change and protect emperor penguins and their habitats.
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Found only in Antarctica, emperor penguins – the largest of all living penguin species – are uniquely adapted for survival in this harsh environment. For nine months of the year, they depend upon ‘fast ice’ to survive – sea ice which is connected to land, seabed or ice shelves. During this period, they gather in large colonies to mate, lay eggs and moult.
Naturally, sea ice levels change throughout the year as the ocean surface freezes in winter and melts back each summer in Antarctica. However, since early 2016, this process has changed significantly – sea ice in the region has decreased in both total coverage and the duration it persists. Consequently, this break-up of fast ice has resulted in what the WWF refer to as ‘catastrophic breeding failures’.
In 2022, four out of five known breeding sites in the Bellinghausen Sea collapsed, with thousands of chicks, which lack waterproof feathers until almost fully grown, likely freezing or drowning.
With a current population estimate of approximately 595,000 adult emperor penguins, research assessing numbers between 2009 and 2018 indicates that there had already been an almost 10 per cent decline in the population around Antarctica.
In recent years, the situation has become even more critical.
With record reductions in sea ice, studies supported by WWF revealed an estimated 22 per cent regional decline in emperor penguins in the Western Antarctic sector between 2018 and 2023.
‘With the shocking decline in Antarctic sea ice that we are currently witnessing, these icons on ice may well be heading down the slippery slope towards extinction by the end of this century – unless we act now,’ said WWF’s Chief Adviser, Rod Downie.
Clearly, the fate of the emperor penguin is tied to climate change policy, highlighting the need for governments to rapidly decarbonise to prevent serious effects on nature, wildlife and people. In addition, WWF is calling for emperor penguins to be listed as a Specially Protected Species in Antarctica. This would provide additional protection against pressures on their habitat caused by human activity, including tourism and shipping.
