In response to a Center for Biological Diversity petition,
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Tuesday that Antarctica's emperor penguins
may need Endangered Species Act protection based on threats from climate change. The most ice-dependent penguins in the world, emperors are threatened by loss of sea ice
and a declining supply of krill linked to warming oceans."Our carbon pollution is melting the sea-ice habitat emperor penguins need to survive," said Shaye Wolf, climate science director.
"Emperor penguins are the icons of wild Antarctica, and they need rapid cuts in carbon pollution
and Endangered Species Act protections if they're going to have a future.
"Emperor penguins rely on sea ice for raising their chicks and foraging.
In the regions of Antarctica where sea ice is shrinking,
some penguin colonies have declined or disappeared;
the colony featured in the film March of the Penguins has declined by more than 50 percent.
In 2006 the Center filed a petition to list 12 penguin species, including the emperor penguin,
as threatened or endangered. The agency protected seven species but denied protection to the emperor,
so in 2011 we re-petitioned to protect the emperor based on new scientific information demonstrating the species is imperiled.
On Tuesday the Service agreed to conduct a full scientific review to determine
if this penguin should finally be protected under the Act. Let's make this happen.
