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Around the world, beautiful animals are growing vulnerable to extinction – such as gorillas, turtles, orangutans, rhinoceroses, and even the infamous bald eagle having faced extinction before.
In fact, several of these animals are becoming susceptible to extinction as a result of climate change. Now, endangered penguins are being added onto that list – with their population expected to decrease by 26% by 2050.
In this article, we’ll explain what endangered species are, why emperor penguins are endangered, and what you can do to help this vulnerable population of penguins.
An endangered animal refers to a species that is at risk of extinction across either some or all of its current population.
💡 Species often become endangered as a result of multiple undesirable conditions, such as facing air pollution, compromised habitats, excessive hunting, or climate change itself.
Some examples of endangered animals include:
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), there are four categories in which species can be classified:
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| Least Concern (LC) | This refers to species that do not currently pose any risk of extinction. |
| Vulnerable (VU) | This refers to species that have yet to be classified as endangered, but are on the cusp of facing extinction. |
| Endangered (EN) | This refers to animals that are currently facing a high risk of extinction. |
| Critically Endangered (CR) | This refers to animals who are the most vulnerable to the threat of extinction. |
👉 Endangered species are supported with habitat restoration, specialised protection programs, environmental legislation, and breeding programs to help keep reproduction rates at sufficient levels in order to avoid extinction altogether.
Emperor penguins are important as they serve as a key indicator for climate change and ocean patterns.
💡 Regardless of the debate on are emperor penguins endangered, if they were to become extinct – scientist and researchers alike would lose a pivotal resource.
In addition to this, emperor penguins are often referred to as an iconic part of Antarctica – not only helping to provide for a fun travel experience and photo opportunity, but for their vital role in supporting this desolate and now struggling continent.
Here are some of the reasons why emperor penguins are important to Antarctica and the world:
👉 Essentially, if emperor penguins were to go extinct – it would create a ripple effect of consequences for the entire ecosystem in Antarctica and even put the future of the continent’s scientific research at risk.
As of 2024, emperor penguins are not considered endangered – but the future of their population is at great risk.
💡 According to the IUCN’s “Red List” of threatened species, emperor penguins are considered “Near Threatened” by extinction – meaning they are on the cusp of being considered an endangered species.
Emperor penguins received protection rights under the Endangered Species Act in 2022 as a result of climate change threatening the sea-ice habitat that emperor penguins need to survive.
While emperor penguins have yet to officially be considered an endangered species, they are not far from it – seeing as global temperatures continue to rise, which create inhabitable living conditions for the infamous penguins.
Here are some additional reasons why emperor penguins are considered threatened and not endangered:
👉 Although emperor penguins aren’t officially considered endangered, if we do not tackle climate change in a timely manner – these infamous penguins from Antarctica will soon battle extinction.
The main reason why emperor penguins are considered threatened is due to rising global temperatures.
Emperor penguins thrive in cool climates, and are adverse to warmer temperatures – meaning that the 3°C (5.4°F) warming that has occurred in Antarctica since 1950 doesn’t help to prevent emperor penguins from reaching endangered species status.
💡 Remember, emperor penguins are not the first species to face extinction due to warming temperatures – as polar bears became the first or in part, by climate change, with polar bears being the first species to be listed under the Endangered Species Act as a result of global warming.
Antarctica has been suffering from a warming climate since industrialization took off, with parts of the Antarctic Peninsula already having lost more than 60% of its sea ice over the course of 30 years.
As a result, an entire colony of emperor penguins has virtually disappeared – with studies now showing that by 2100, emperor penguins could be quasi-extinct as a result of melted sea ice.
Therefore, the main threat to emperor penguins is the loss of their sea ice habitat, as it’s required for:
Ultimately, if global temperatures continue to rise, it is probable that emperor penguin populations significantly reduce and eventually reach endangered status – especially if stronger efforts to reduce climate change are not taken in the near future.
👉 While it’s true that many animals face extinction as a result of numerous factors, it is important to note that the conditions caused by climate change can impact additional undesirable circumstances to promote population growth – such as by perpetuating poor living conditions for animals or leaving them more vulnerable to overhunting.
Luckily, there are still many things we can do to protect emperor penguins from reaching endangered status.
In 1973, there were only an estimated 417 known nesting pairs for bald eagles – but now, the birds are easily found in Alaska and elsewhere across the United States, with over 300,000 bald eagles in existence today.
Bald eagles escaped extinction as a result of 15 states in the U.S. working together to help restore their nests and create more effective nesting for the population to recover. This goes to show that we can do the same for emperor penguins, especially as their population count hasn’t even begun to dip as low as bald eagles did in their endangered period.
Here are some ways that we can work together to save emperor penguins:
Overall, emperor penguins aren’t endangered yet – but they could be soon if we keep up with the excessive consumption, travel, and other human activities subject to superfluous emissions that pollute the planet.
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