Latest news with #Humboldtpenguins
Yomiuri Shimbun
3 days ago
- Science
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Peru's Coastal Guano Birds Face Crisis as Population Drops over 75%, Scientists Say
LIMA (Reuters) — Scientists along Peru's central Pacific coast are sounding the alarm that more action is needed to protect seabirds, sea lions, and penguins as climate change, disease and overfishing threaten their survival. Research shows the number of guano birds has dropped by more than three-quarters in the past three years to around 500,000, according to local biologists, down from a population of 4 million in 2022. These black-and-white coastal birds form an important part of Peruvian wildlife, producing large quantities of excrement used as a natural fertilizer. 'We are very alarmed by this sharp decline,' said Susana Cardenas, director of the Environmental Sustainability Center at Peru's Cayetano Heredia University in an interview with Reuters. She monitors marine life at the Punta San Juan reserve roughly 530 kilometers south of Lima. Breeding centers like the one Cardenas runs are helping to protect bird populations that she described as 'golden egg-laying hens' because they were so fragile, yet valuable. Peru's state agency AgroRural counted 587,000 guano seabirds in June, spread across 22 islands and eight coastal points, that include cormorants, boobies and pelicans. That figure is down from an average of 4 million registered in recent decades by Peru's Agriculture Ministry. Scientists said that the sharp decline began with an outbreak of avian flu in 2022 that killed tens of thousands of birds, penguins and sea lions. The El Nino weather phenomenon disrupted marine ecosystems the following year, and forced birds to migrate. Then in 2024, overfishing of anchoveta — a primary food source from the anchovy fish family — further depleted populations. At Punta San Juan, only 200,000 guano birds, 2,500 Humboldt penguins and 11,000 sea lions remain, the research center found. The decline in bird numbers is hurting the guano fertilizer harvest, important for the local farming industry. This nutrient-rich fertilizer is collected every five years under government supervision and exported in controlled quantities. The last collection was in 2024, but with fewer birds, the 'sustainability of this activity will be at risk,' Cardenas added. Peru's Agriculture Ministry said in a response to a Reuters request for comment on the decline that it was developing a national plan for the repopulation of guano birds with various different conservation entities. In April, authorities allowed the biggest catch quota in seven years of anchoveta, used in fishmeal, citing larger populations. But biologists said that the anchoveta populations were still not large enough to sustain both fishing and the bird populations that depend on them. Sea lions and penguins that live in colonies along the Pacific coasts of Peru and Chile were also at risk from dwindling food supplies caused by changing weather patterns and overfishing. Humboldt penguins could be extinct in 100 years, Cardenas said, if protections failed to increase. 'Their population is trending downward, especially in protected areas where growth is most needed.'
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Penguin chick introduced at Sioux Falls Zoo
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – A new penguin chick has been introduced to the Humboldt penguin colony at the Great Plains Zoo and Aquarium. Penguin parents Pippa and Quince have raised three previous chicks — Paco, Rico, and Sammy Sammons — all of whom still live at the zoo. The plan for the Sioux Falls Zoo & Aquarium The chick hatched on March 30 and is growing well, thanks to the attentiveness of the parents. Though it still stays close to mom and dad, the chick is starting to be viewable in the Humboldt penguin habitat. In their natural habitat, Humboldt penguins nest on the islands of the Pacific coast, and are native to South America. They are considered a threatened species. The Great Plains Zoo campus is now open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the butterfly house and aquarium is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. How zoo animals are part of a literacy initiative Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
