Conservation of Erect-Crested Penguins

Population Fast Facts:

  • The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Red List classifies Erect-Crested Penguins as endangered.

  • The greatest environmental disturbances that they face are a lack of biological resources due to food web disruption due to human fishing and harvesting of aquatic resources and habitat shifting and alteration due to climate change and severe weather.

  • The population is currently decreasing and sits around 150,000 mature individuals, as of the last count conducted in 2011.

  • Only an estimated 80% of mature individuals breed each year.


Conservation Actions:

In-place research and monitoring

  • Action Recovery Plan: Yes

In-place land/water protection

  • Conservation sites identified: Yes, over part of the range

  • Invasive species control or prevention: Yes

In-place education

  • Included in international legislation: Yes

Flickr

Current Conservation Actions:

Erect-Crested Penguins’ island homes are Nature Reserves are part of a World Heritage Site designated in 1998. When possible, population size is monitored.

Proposed Conservation Actions:

Scientists are petitioning for survey samples of the Antipodes Island colonies every five years and a re-photographing of their habitat. They also propose that the Bounty Islands are surveyed via air and land every five years to ascertain the viability of colonies. Detailed studies to determine the penguins’ foraging ranges, commercial fishery interaction, oceanographic and ciliate changes. International agreements are also being negotiated to create Marine Protected Areas and restrict fisheries, harvesting of non-renewable resources like oil, and other marine activities.


Erect-Crested Penguins Need Our Help

Ecological resiliency decreases the long humans abuse an ecosystem such as the islands home to Erect-Crested Penguins. Already classified as an endangered species, they could face extinction if humans do not stop overfishing the penguins’ habitat. Additionally, it is important that we reduce our carbon footprint, on a mass scale, to reduce the effects of climate change. Individuals account for a minuscule amount of pollution; therefore, legislation must be drafted to curb the devastation caused by corporations. Erect-Crested Penguins fit into an intricate food web that thrives on ecosystem diversity to support all members of the habitat. Likewise, the penguins contribute to the stability of their environment. With the constant disruption of the ecosystem, ecological resistance dwindles and the penguins’ mortality rate rises. This, in turn, reduces the likelihood of other organisms surviving. As we continue to disrupt the environment, we will see an increase in climate change and food shortages, which are the final links in an apocalyptic chain.

Citations

Erect-crested Penguins. Penguins International. (2019, November 24). https://www.penguinsinternational.org/erect-crested-penguins/.

Experience a virtual visit and see wildlife through our eyes. Conservation Week. (n.d.). https://www.doc.govt.nz/news/events/conservation-week/do-an-activity/experience-virtual-nature/.

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. (2020, August 21). https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22697789/131879000.