The largest colony of king penguins in the world decreases by almost 90%

The colony sits on the French sub-Antarctic island of Pigs Island, or Pork Island, and once had over two million king penguins. When scientists set foot on the island in 1982, it was not only the largest colony of king penguins in the world, but the second largest colony of all penguins.

However, researchers at the Chizé Center for Biological Studies investigated the island in 2016 and 2017, the colony has collapsed. The total population had decreased by 88%, barely 200,000 royal penguins. Before, there were half a million breeding pairs – there are only 60,000 left over.

Photographs and satellite images taken over the decades revealed that the colony's territory had shrunk. The decline also began in the late 1990s, at the same time as a major climatic event related to the cyclical El Niño weather phenomenon occurred in the Southern Ocean, potentially affecting the penguins' ability to search for water. the food.

Possible causes include diseases such as avian cholera, invasive predators and what the team calls "density-dependent effects": populations grow, competition between individuals may increase, triggering food shortages and a general decline for the group. "The cause of the massive decline of the colony remains a mystery and must be resolved," the paper concludes.

"Although the decline began at least 20 years ago, it appears to be underway, and the causes of the decline may still be active."

The report also details non-invasive methods used to study the population, including photographing the colony from helicopters.

. a partnership with the staff of the National Nature Reserve of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands and the French Polar Institute, will now start work to verify the initial findings outlined in the report.