Number of king penguins on the
remote Île aux Cochons has fallen from 2m to 200,000, warn scientists
Agence France-Presse in Paris
Mon 30 Jul
2018 21.50 BSTLast modified on Tue 31 Jul 2018 02.35 BST
The planet’s largest colony of
king penguins has declined by nearly 90% in three decades, researchers have
warned.
The last time scientists set foot
on France’s remote Île aux Cochons – roughly half way between the tip of Africa
and Antarctica – the island was blanketed by 2m of the penguins, which stand
about a metre tall.
But recent satellite images and
photos taken from helicopters show the population has collapsed, with barely
200,000 remaining, according to a study published in Antarctic Science.
Why the colony on Île aux Cochons
has been so decimated remains a mystery.
“It is completely unexpected, and
particularly significant since this colony represented nearly one third of the
king penguins in the world,” said lead author Henri Weimerskirch, an ecologist
at the Centre for Biological Studies in Chize, France, who first set eyes on
the colony in 1982.
Climate change may
play a role. In 1997, a particularly strong El Niño weather event warmed the
southern Indian Ocean, temporarily pushing the fish and squid on which king
penguins depend south, beyond their foraging range.
“This resulted in population
decline and poor breeding success for all the king penguin colonies in the
region,” Weimerskirch said.
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