March of the Penguins: Marching Into Extinction?

While we may have laughed during the March of the Penguins and Happy Feet movies, the future outlook for some species of penguins is not a laughing matter. While all 17 species of penguins are currently protected from hunting and egg collecting, some species appear to be in danger. The situation has become so critical that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is considering listing ten species of penguins as endangered.

Thanks to a November, 2006 petition from the Center for Biological Diversity the FWS announced on July 11 that substantial scientific information was available to indicate that the listing of ten species of penguins as endangered was justified. The ten species that FWS will consider in the listing process include:

1. The Emperor (Aptenodytes forsteri)
2. Southern Rockhopper (Eudyptes chrysocome)
3. Northern Rockhopper (Eudyptes moseleyi (E.chrysocome moseleyi)
4. Fiordland Crested (Eudyptes pachyrhynchus)
5. Erect crested (Eudyptes sclateri)
6. Macaroni (Eudyptes chrysolophus)
7. White-Flippered (Eudyptula albosignata)
8. Yellow-eyed (Megadyptes antipodes)
9. African (Spheniscus demersus)
10. Humbold (Spheniscus humboldti)

Two of the species that may be in need of most help are the Fiordland crested penguin (Eudyptes pachyrhynchus) and theWhite-flippered Penguin (Eudyptula albosignata). Both are smaller sized species found in New Zealand having populations estimated as being below 4,000 breeding pairs. The small Fiordland, averaging about 8 lbs and less than 2 feet in length, is known as one of the more timid crested penguins. Unlike their cousins in the Arctic the Fiordland has evolved to breed along the costal rainforests of New Zealand's Fiordland and Stewart Islands. Nests can be found in caves and the dense rainforest vegetation.

The U.S. FWS is not the only organization acting to protect penguins in danger. The New Zealand Department of Conservation has established an Action Plan for Seabird Conservation. Private organizations working to protect these seabirds include the Center for Biological Diversity; Organization for the Conservation of Penguins; Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust; Center for Conservation of the Humboldt Penguin; and the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds, to name a few.

The work being done by these organizations may just help in keeping penguins from following in the footsteps of the Dodo's into extinction. Wouldn't it have been great if a dollar of so from each ticket sold for March of the Penguins and Happy Feet could have gone to support conservation efforts? While both movies jointly grossing an estimated $200 million dollars, our penguin friends were left out in the cold.