Emperor Penguin in New Zealand, and Nils Olaf in Edinburgh

Jul 30, 2011
John Blatchford

Emperor Penguin - Samuel Blanc - Wikimedia Commons

Public awareness of global problems might be elevated by a couple of unusual penguins?

The media highlights individual cases, but the broader picture rests with individual members of the public.

Two Famous Penguins

'Nils Olav' and 'Happy Feet' have both become famous penguins. One is the 'darling' of Edinburgh Zoo, and the other is a temporary resident in New Zealand.

Nils was visited by the Norwegian King’s Guard and was promoted to ‘Colonel-in Chief’ in 2008.

'Happy Feet' is a juvenile Emperor Penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) that turned up on Peka Peka Beach (New Zealand) in 2011. He is: 'believed to have swum about 3200km from his Antarctic home' (New Zealand Herald).

Both individual animals have attracted a lot of media (and therefore public) attention. But are people interested in the 'cuddly-furry-animal' (probably should be 'feathered'!), or in the animal itself?

Serious Concerns for Emperor Penguins

According to The Washington Post: 'The world's largest penguins could be pushed to the brink of extinction by the end of this century due to the melting of Antarctic sea ice caused by global climate change', and the mathematical modeling of Jenouvrier shows that: 'The probability of quasi-extinction ... is at least 36% by 2100'

Wild populations of Emperor Penguins ( currently about 200,000 breeding pairs in 40 colonies) are a matter for serious concern.

If concern goes beyond the individual penguin there are stark realities to be faced.

Emperor Penguins and Global Warming

Stephanie Jenouvrier (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) has said that: 'the entire species ... could be pushed to the brink of extinction by the end of this century', and Hal Caswell (also of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) is reported as saying: 'this is an example of: 'the way in which climate change affects various factors of the habitat of animals adapted to live in really extreme conditions' (The Washington Post, 2009).

Jenouvier said: 'I hope people will be sensitized by the effect of climate change on such a charismatic species and realize there are strong ecological consequences of climate change'.

This is the hope – that members of the public will look at these unique animals (Nils and Happy Feet) and go on to find out a bit more about the wild animals.

Climates are changing, whatever the cause, and many species are threatened. Perhaps these two animals will help broadcast the fact?

Climate Change and Animals

Often people will say that: 'there have been climate changes in the past', but that misses the point. Current climate change (again – whatever the cause) is happening very fast. Much too fast for evolutionary change to keep pace.

It is to be hoped that all the 'hoo-ha' attached to these two individual animals will lead to a general concern for the problems all their wild relations are experiencing in their natural habitats.

Sources:

'Happy Feet feels right at home', New Zealand Herald, 2011.
' Melting Sea Ice May Doom Emperor Penguins ', Will Dunham, The Washington Post (from Reuters) 2009.
'The decline of an emperor penguin population', Stephanie Jenouvier, (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2009.
'King Penguin Knighted', 2008