Dramatic reduction of the largest penguin colony



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The largest column of king penguins in the world, located on the French island of Pigs Island in the Indian Ocean, has fallen by nearly 90% in the last 30 years .

Scientists warned Monday, stating that the cause of this phenomenon is unknown. This was announced on Tuesdaypredictionpost.com. Originally, on this remote island between Africa and Antarctic about two million of those about one meter tall, flightless birds were living . However, the latest images taken by satellites and helicopters indicate that their population fell to about 200,000, according to a study published in the Antarctic Journal.

Scientists can not explain this mystery more than on neighboring islands did not see the loss of the king's penguins Their colonies on the island of Possession have a number stabilized individuals since the 1960s, and on the islands of Marion and Kerguelen, their states have even increased. Scientists therefore assume that the decline of the penguins on Pigs Island is unrelated to climate change and possible food shortages but may be a local cause

However, the l. French ecologist Henri Weimerskirch of the Chizé Center for Biological Studies in a study released earlier with colleagues, warned that climate change, if it continues its current trajectory, is likely to cause the Crozet Islands – l & # 39; archipelago, including the Isle of Pigs – in the middle of the 21st century for the penguins of royalty. uninhabitable. A similar critical situation occurred in 1997, when the southern part of the Indian Ocean was affected by the El Niño phenomenon to the extent that the fish and octopus on which the king penguins depended were exported from the south. Their food became inaccessible to them because the places of their appearance were inaccessible to them from the island.

Scientists also think of the possibility that migratory pens have not migrated to Pigs' Island – although these birds are known to tend to stay where they hatched and where they are found. reproduced. Scientists have seen a smaller colony near the coast, but it is too small to explain such a loss of penguins on the island As a cause of decline, scientists are studying the impact of the invasive species of animals – rats, mice or cats that have found their way to the island or a possible cholera infection of seabirds on the nearby Marion and Amsterdam Islands. The possible cause is also The infestation of the island with ticks Scientists say ticks transmit the disease and death of so many birds is unprecedented; however, we know that the forceps eliminate a large number of king penguins

Scientists were on Ile aux Cochons the last time in 1982. The authors of my study write that to know the reasons for the mysterious reduction of the colony of penguins, scientific expedition. New scientific discoveries can lead to a reassessment of the degree of protection of king penguins to this day do not belong to the most endangered animals

King penguins are the second largest species of penguins after the imperial penguins. They are characterized by the fact that do not build a nest, but the eggs are worn on their legs covered with a flap of the abdominal skin Parents alternate sitting on eggs. There are two subspecies of king penguins: Aptenodytes patagonica patagonicus inhabits the Falkland Islands and the island of South Georgia, while Aptenodytes patagonica halli is located in the southernmost regions of the ocean Indian and South Pacific [19651989]. p) {if (f.fbq) return; n = f.fbq function () {n.callMethod?
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