Population of African Penguins along South Africa’s West Coast has dropped by 90%

African penguins, the tourist attraction near Cape Town, South Africa, which are the continents only flightless bird are on the verge of being extinct. This rapid decline has led to a ban on commercial fishing in four key areas seven years ago to see whether that could help save the penguins

Although officials have put a ban on fishing in almost four key areas seven years ago to help save the penguins. But still scientists are debating whether fishing is the only major threat to the population of the species.

As per experts, if the present situation continued, then in no time the specie will disappear. In the 1930s, South Africa's largest colony had a several million of African penguins. But at present only 100,000 of the birds remain in all of South Africa and neighboring Namibia, the only places where the species exists.

Anchovies and sardines, which are the biggest components of South Africa's fishing industry, are also the primary food sources of the African penguins. Both fisheries scientists and bird specialists agree that the decline of the penguin began around 2004 with a shift in anchovies and sardines away from the colonies.

Scientists said they are still not sure why the fish have moved from the colonies, but they hypotheses that the possible cause could be climate change, overfishing and natural fluctuations.

So far several penguins have died or abandoned their chicks, with hundreds winding up in the crowded outdoor pens of a rehabilitation center run by the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds, which releases rehabilitated penguins into the wild every week.

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Yellow-Eyed Penguin

The yellow-eyed penguin is one of the few penguin species found north of the Antarctic Ocean, and as it's name suggests, this species of penguin is easily idenitfied by it's yellow coloured eyes and bright yellow band that runs from it's eyes round the back of the yellow-eyed penguin's head.

The yellow-eyed penguin is found off the coast of the south island of New Zealand where this species gathers in colonies along the beaches and boulder fields. The yellow-eyed penguin is also found on a few of the islands of the main island including Stewart, Auckland and the Campbell Islands.

The yellow-eyed penguin generally searches for food up 10 miles offshore, and travels (on average) around 15 miles away from the colonies nesting site. The yellow-eyed penguin leaves the colony at dawn and returns the same evening during chick rearing, although may spend several days at sea at other times.

The yellow-eyed penguin is one of the larger species of penguin with adult individuals reaching 75cm in height, with the males generally being slightly larger than the female yellow-eyed penguins. The yellow-eyed penguin was thought to have been closely related to the tiny little penguin found in a similar area, although recent research suggests that the two are actually fairly genetically different.

The yellow-eyed penguin is a carnivorous animal, that like all other penguin species, survives on a diet that is only comprised of marine animals. Krill and small crustaceans make up the bulk of the yellow-eyed penguin's diet along with larger organisms including squid and various species of fish.

The yellow-eyed penguin is usually found nesting in the forests and scrub that line the New Zealand coast and although historically undisturbed, the yellow-eyed penguin now has a number of land-dwelling predators including cats, dogs and foxes along with rats and weasels that hunt their eggs.

On average, the yellow-eyed penguin breeds once a year, forming pairs that usually remain faithful to one another. The female yellow-eyed penguin lays two eggs in her nest in the forest which are incubated by both parents for up to a couple of months, when only one of the eggs will usually hatch. The yellow-eyed penguin chicks are fed and kept warm by their parents and remain with them until the chicks are nearly a year old.

Today, the yellow-eyed penguin listed as an endangered animal with an estimated wild population of less than 4,000 individuals. It is now the rarest penguin in the world due to deforestation and the introduction of mammalian predators.

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Adelie Penguin

Adelie Penguin Classification and Evolution
The Adelie Penguin is the smallest and most widely distributed species of Penguin in the Southern Ocean and is one of only two species of Penguin found on the Antarctic mainland (the other being the much larger Emperor Penguin). The Adelie Penguin was named in 1840 by French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville who named the Penguin for his wife, Adelie. Adelie Penguins have adapted well to life in the Antarctic as these migratory Birds winter in the northern pack-ice before returning south to the Antarctic coast for the warmer summer months.

Adelie Penguin Anatomy and Appearance
The Adelie Penguin is one of the most easily identifiable Penguin species with a blue-black back and completely white chest and belly. The head and beak of the Adelie Penguin are both black, with a distinctive white ring around each eye. The strong, pink feet of the Adelie Penguin are tough and bumpy with nails that not only aid the Adelie Penguin in climbing the rocky cliffs to reach its nesting grounds, but also help to push them along when they are sliding (rowing) along the ice. Adelie Penguins also use their webbed feet along with their small flippers to propel them along when swimming in the cold waters.

Adelie Penguin Distribution and Habitat
The Adelie Penguin is one of the southern-most Birds in the world as it is found along the Antarctic coastline and on the islands close to it. During the winter months, the Adelie Penguins migrate north where they inhabit large platforms of ice and have better access to food. During the warmer summer months, the Adelie Penguins return south where they head for the coastal beaches in search of ice-free ground on the rocky slopes where they can build their nests. More than half a million Adelie Penguins have formed one of the largest animal colonies in the world on Ross Island, an island formed by the activities of four monstrous volcanoes in the Ross Sea.

Adelie Penguin Behaviour and Lifestyle
Like all species of Penguin, the Adelie Penguin is a highly sociable animal, gathering in large groups known as colonies, which often number thousands of Penguin individuals. Although Adelie Penguins are not known to be terribly territorial, it is not uncommon for adults to become aggressive over nesting sites, and have even been known to steal rocks from the nests of their neighbours. Adelie Penguins are also known to hunt in groups as it is thought to reduce the risk of being eaten by hungry predators. Adelie Penguins are constantly interacting with one another, with body language and specific eye movements thought to be the most common forms of communication.

Adelie Penguin Reproduction and Life Cycles
Adelie Penguins return to their breeding grounds during the Antarctic summer months of November and December. Their soft feet are well designed for walking on land making the trek to it's nesting ground much easier as the Penguin fasts during this time. Adelie Penguin pairs mate for life in large colonies, with females laying two eggs a couple of days apart into a nest built from rocks. Both the male and female take it in turns to incubate their eggs while the other goes off to feed, for up to 10 days at a time. The Adelie Penguin chicks have an egg-tooth which is a bump on the top of their beaks, which helps them to break out of the egg. Once hatched, the parents still take it in turns to look after their young while the other goes off to gather food. After about a month, the chicks congregate in groups called crèches and are able to fend for themselves at sea when they are between 2 and 3 months old.

Adelie Penguin Diet and Prey
Adelie Penguins are strong and capable swimmers, obtaining all of their food from the sea. These Penguins primarily feed on krill which are found throughout the Antarctic ocean, as well as Molluscs, Squid and small Fish. The record of fossilised eggshell accumulated in the Adelie Penguin colonies over the last 38,000 years reveals a sudden change from a Fish-based diet to Krill that started two hundred years ago. This is thought to be due to the decline of the Antarctic Fur Seal Seal in the late 1700s and Baleen Whales in the twentieth century. The reduction of competition from these predators has resulted in there being an abundance of Krill, which the Adelie Penguins are now able to exploit as an easier source of food.

Adelie Penguin Predators and Threats
Adult Adelie Penguins have no land based predators due to the uncompromising conditions that they inhabit. In the water however, the biggest threat to the Adelie Penguin is the Leopard Seal, which is one of the southern-most species of Seal and a dominant predator in the Southern Ocean. These Penguins have learnt to avoid these predators by swimming in large groups and not walking on thin ice. The Killer Whale Whale is the other main predator of the Adelie Penguin, although they normally hunt larger species of Penguin further north. South Polar Skuas are known to prey on the Adelie Penguin's eggs if left unguarded, along with chicks that have strayed from a group.

Adelie Penguin Interesting Facts and Features
Adelie Penguins inhabit one of the coldest environments on Earth and so have a thick layer of fat under their skin helping to keep them warm. Their feathers help to insulate them and provide a waterproof layer for extra protection. The Adelie Penguin is a highly efficient hunter and is able to eat up to 2kg of food per day, with a breeding colony thought to consume around 9,000 tonnes of food over 24 hours. The flippers of the Adelie Penguin make them fantastic at swimming and they can dive to depths of 175 meters in search of food. Adelie Penguins do not have teeth as such but instead have tooth-shaped barbs on their tongue and on the roof of their mouths. These barbs do not exist for chewing but instead assist the Penguin to swallow slippery prey.

Adelie Penguin Relationship with Humans
A visit to the Adelie Penguin colonies has long since been on the programme for tourists to the Antarctic, who marvel at the vast numbers of them nesting on the beaches and hunting in the surrounding waters. This has meant that Adelie Penguins are one of the most well-known of all Penguin species today. Early explorers however, also hunted the Penguins both for their meat and their eggs in order to survive in such uncompromising conditions.

Adelie Penguin Conservation Status and Life Today
Despite having been confined to living on coastal Antarctica, Adelie Penguins are one of the most common and widespread Penguins in the southern hemisphere. With more than 2.5 million breeding pairs found throughout southern Antarctica, the Adelie Penguin has adapted well to it's polar habitat. Scientists have also been known to use Adelie Penguin nesting patterns as indicators of climate change, noticing that they are able to nest on beaches that were previously covered in ice. The Adelie Penguin is listed as Least Concern.

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Super Funny Animal's Compilation ( September 2013 ) HD

Have you seen a animal playing basketball? Watch this cute little guy play and more funny animal video

Video

Youtube | funfunnycomic

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Penguin Huddles Observed to have Wave-like Movement

Male emperor penguins, which are left to watch over their mates’ eggs while the females go off to hunt in the winter season, have to brave some of the harshest winters in the world. Temperatures during this bleak time in the Antarctic often go down to minus 50 degrees Celsius, with winds of up to 200 km/h.

To survive these insane conditions, these birds act like a school of fish, huddling together and relying on their neighbors’ bodies to keep themselves—as well as the eggs they’re protecting—warm and alive.

While huddling together may not seem like such a difficult thing to do, the huge packs of Emperor penguins observed in the Antarctic are actually more complicated than they look. For instance, scientists have observed that when one penguin makes a single step in one direction, the rest of the penguins in the pack also move to compensate for the gap and stay warm, protecting the incubating eggs.

Previous studies show that each penguin in a huddle actually makes tiny, regular ever 30 to 60 seconds, moving between 2 and 4 inches with every step. Scientists, however, have yet to fully understand the physics of how these small movements come together and affect the huddle as a single unit, until now.

Scientists from Germany’s University of Erlangen-Nuremberg have developed mathematical models based

on timelapse footage of Emperor Penguins, discovering that the huddle actually moves like a wave, started by any penguin in the pack. Perhaps most interesting is that when two ‘waves’ meet, they merge instead of passing each other.

The full story on Discovery News.

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Antarctic Penguins Adapting to Warmer Temperatures: Study

Antarctic emperor penguins have been able to shift their breeding grounds above ice cliffs as high as 30 meters (100 feet), suggesting they’re more resilient to a warming climate than previously thought, according to a study.

Penguins in four colonies bred during 2008, 2009, and 2010 on sea ice, their preferred terrain because it’s easier to reach the fish they eat, according to a paper in the journal PLOS ONE. In 2011 and 2012, years when the sea ice formed only after the birds’ breeding season had begun, the penguins moved to the ice shelf, where continental ice floats out over the sea.

Source: Here

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No deal on huge Antarctic marine reserves

International talks on establishing huge marine reserves in Antarctica have failed to reach a consensus.

The proposed protected zone in the Ross Sea is home to a large proportion of the world's Adelie penguins
Russia blocked attempts by western countries to set up the protected areas in the Ross Sea and Eastern Antarctica.

The Russian representative challenged the legal basis that would allow for the creation of such reserves, according to organisations at the talks in Germany.

Source: Here

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“Perverted” penguins and then some . . .

Are penguins “all too human”?

Continuing the topic of “animals-are-just-like-us” and “famous animals in captivity,” we turn to penguins — not because of their “happy feet” but because some of them form same-sex pairings.

The first famous “gay” penguin couple are Roy and Silo, male Chinstrap penguins at Manhattan’s Central Park Zoo. They came into prominence back in 2004 when they successfully hatched an egg given to them, the chick being named Tango. Their story prompted the 2005 book by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson entitled “And Tango Makes Three.” A play based on the book was then written by Emily Freeman. This play was opposed from being performed in an Austin, Texas elementary school — some claiming the play was not “age appropriate.”

Then there’s Pedro and Buddy, African penguins at the Toronto Zoo, who made headlines in 2011. They were since separated, introduced to female penguins and produced eggs this year. This move by zoo officials was met with criticism but apparently the penguins never looked back to their “bromance.”

And then there are the two unnamed King penguins at Denmark’s Odense Zoo. These two were so desperate to have offspring they even tried to steal an egg from a regular King penguin couple. They were also given a fertile egg to adopt and successfully hatched a King penguin chick.

The perception that these animals are “gay” is apparently partly based on likening animal behavior to human behavior — the “animals-are-just-like-us” viewpoint.

So, are animals “just like us”?

We should be careful against assuming what is natural for animals is desirable for humans.

For example, the article on Roy and Silo stated that humans take care of their elderly while animals don’t so this should not be an excuse for closing down nursing homes. Plus, this statement is countered by observations on otters giving food to their begging elderly (sometimes).

Also animals practice widespread infanticide — modern humans usually just go for abortion.

When it comes to sexuality, the general observation in animals is that, apparently, sexuality is not exclusive. What we perceive to be sexual orientation may just be “bonding” for some animal species. The sex of their mates are secondary, as long as they get some. Something humans can learn from.

The lesson is we should not immediately judge animals just because they do something similar to what humans do, without considering the motives. Better yet, it is safer not to judge at all.

Writer Jeff Macmahon argues that there is actually nothing that makes human beings any different from animals. Still, animals don’t persecute their own kind just because they don’t agree with who the others sleep with. Only humans do that.

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Emperor Penguin Facts

Emperor penguins were the stars of the Happy Feet series of movies, with Happy Feet 2 released last year.

Revisiting the world of Mumble and touching up on the inherent talents of Erik, Mumble’s son, the second Happy Feet movie bore the same entertainment quality of the first, making it a heartwarming story that is enjoyable for audiences of all ages.

Being the largest of 17 known penguin species, it really is no wonder why Happy Feet focused on Emperor Penguins, a penguin species that is known to stay in the Antarctic all year long. Given the fact that a lot of Antarctic creatures are known to move to warmer climes during winter season, the Emperor Penguin is the only species that stays, “roughing out” the winter frost and cold that comes upon them.

Highly sociable, Emperor Penguins are known to implement a unique tactic in staying warm, huddling together in a group. Though this may not sound much when one says it out loud, but the unique thing about Emperor Penguins is that they actually take turns in being in the middle or center of a huddle, with the practice saying something about their organizational skills as a species.

Also, unlike other birds, Emperor Penguins breed during winter, and unlike most father and mother setups in the animal kingdom, it is the mother penguin who leaves after an egg is hatched, leaving the responsibility of taking care of the young Emperor Penguin to the father.

Once the egg is hatched, the mother penguin then comes back, and does her share in helping rear baby penguins to full growth.

With the harsh cold of the Antarctic, Emperor Penguins are truly built for survival, with a unique hierarchy that works to their advantage. Majestic in their size and stance, the “Emperor” in their Emperor Penguin name is one that is truly apt, with all the given considerations and facts about the penguin species.

 Emperor Penguin Facts Video

 

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Rockhopper Penguins

Happy Feet, the 2006 animated film that tells the story of Mumble, a penguin who cannot sing (penguins find their mates through song in the movie) and is ostracized in his colony as a result. In an effort to understand his place in the world, he meets different creatures in Antarctica.

One of the movie’s stars is Lovelace, a dramatic and flamboyant ‘guru’ of a colony of Adelie penguins who wears a six-pack ring around his neck, voiced by the ever lovable Robin Williams. Lovelace is a Rockhopper penguin, a species of penguin that’s a bit smaller than adelies. Rockhoppers are categorized into 3 different subspecies, namely the eastern, northern and southern subspecies.

Interestingly enough, none of these rockhopper penguin species breeds on the Antarctic continent, making Lovelace a bit of a square peg in a round hole in the movie. Rockhopper colonies can be found in Chile, Argentina and the Falkland Islands, as well as in a number of uninhabited islands scattered throughout the south Atlantic, in the southern regions of the Indian Ocean, and even as far as islands off the coast of New Zealand. Rockhoppers are known to live and breed together in huge colonies, which populate rugged terrain near deep oceans and fresh water sources.

The habitats of rockhoppers are a clue of how they got their name. Unlike many penguins that walk and move around obstacles by sliding on their stomachs, rockhoppers will hop over rocks and small cracks. Rochopper penguins mainly feed on fish, crustaceans and squid. Of all the penguin species featured in Happy Feet, rockhoppers are by far the most fragile, greatly affected by human activities, such as overfishing, which has severely lowered populations in many islands. Fishing is not the only problem it faces, as climate change, red tide and egg harvesting have also affected rockhopper populations. As such, the rockhopper penguin is now officially listed as a vulnerable species.

 Rockhopper Penguins Video

 

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