Emperor penguins just slid into a new, unwelcome category: endangered. The International Union for Conservation of Nature on Thursday downgraded the status of the iconic Antarctic species in an update to its Red List, reports the New York Times. The agency also moved Antarctic fur seals to endangered, and southern elephant seals from "least concern" to "vulnerable," per New Scientist. In all three cases, the same culprit is blamed: a warmer climate.
"After careful consideration of different possible threats, we concluded that human-induced climate change poses the most significant threat to emperor penguins," says Philip Trathan of the IUCN Species Survival Commission. "Early sea-ice break-up in spring is already affecting colonies around the Antarctic, and further changes in sea-ice will continue to affect their breeding, feeding and moulting habitat." Emperor penguin colonies in Antarctica have shrunk by about 10% in less than a decade—translating to a loss of more than 20,000 adults— as record-low sea ice undermines their breeding grounds and food supply.
Antarctic fur seals, once hunted nearly to extinction before rebounding, have fallen from roughly two million to under one million adults since 2014, a drop linked to shifting krill populations in warming waters. Southern elephant seals, meanwhile, have seen population losses topping 30% after avian flu tore through three of their four major populations—an outbreak scientists say may be worsened by rising temperatures that help pathogens spread in once-frigid refuges.
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