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- The lower within the Humboldt penguin inhabitants has put them liable to extinction.
- Threats to the penguins within the wild embody marine air pollution, lack of pet supervision, disturbance of nesting websites and avian flu.
- Humboldt penguins stay in colonies alongside the Pacific coasts of Chile and Peru.
The Humboldt penguin inhabitants has dramatically decreased in areas alongside the central coast of Chile, making them one of the vital weak of the world’s 18 penguin species and placing them liable to extinction, consultants warn.
Last yr, scientists surveyed two islands off the central Chilean coast and detected 842 breeding pairs or energetic nests. This yr they discovered only one breeding pair.
Paulina Arce, a veterinarian who focuses on penguins, says that penguin populations on all islands surveyed decreased or remained the identical.
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“This could lead to an even more drastic scenario, which could be the extinction of the species,” Arce mentioned.
Endangered Humboldt penguins stand on a rock at ‘Islote pajaros ninos,’ the place they inhabit and nest, throughout a burrows inspection at Algarrobo space, in Valparaiso, Chile, on June 6, 2024. (Reuters/Ivan Alvarado)
Humboldt penguins (Spheniscus humboldti) inhabit colonies alongside the Pacific coasts of Chile and Peru. They get their identify as a result of they bathe within the chilly Humboldt Current. These flightless birds can weigh as much as 11 kilos and measure as much as 2 toes 3 inches tall when adults.
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Diego Penaloza, president of the Safari Conservation Foundation, says the primary threats to penguins within the wild are marine air pollution, lack of pet supervision, and disturbance of nesting websites.
Additionally, avian flu, exacerbated by the El Nino climate phenomenon, has wreaked havoc on penguin populations and different wildlife. As a end result, Humboldt penguin copy charges have plummeted to virtually zero, in line with Javiera Meza, head of Biodiversity Conservation at nationwide forestry workplace Conaf.
“It was the avian flu plus the El Nino phenomenon that shifted all the food towards the southern zone, and therefore, in the entire northern Chile, reproduction dropped to almost zero levels, and on top of that, many penguins died,” Meza mentioned. “It was like the perfect storm.”
