Ocean Sentry
The Interior Department announced today that the African penguin, the only nesting penguin on the African continent, will be listed as an endangered species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. The decision responds to a 2006 Center for Biological Diversity petition to protect 12 penguin species under the Act as well as a legal settlement with the Center and Turtle Island Restoration Network concerning delays in protecting the penguin. “African penguins are sliding toward extinction with no signs of stopping,” said Catherine Kilduff, a Center attorney. “Climate change, oil spills, overfishing and habitat destruction are among the many threats that the Endangered Species Act must begin to address.”
African penguin populations, which breed in Namibia and South Africa, have declined by 95 percent since preindustrial times. Commercial fisheries have forced penguins to feed on less nutritious prey and swim miles farther to find food, even as climate change and ocean warming are making the penguins’ prey more scarce. The birds live along the major global oil transport route, so spills oil them often….
Source: Center for Biological Diversity
