Understanding the most endangered species
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Highlighting ongoing threats to endangered species and their habitats can provide much-needed education and rally support for conservation efforts.
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Are Emperor Penguins Endangered?
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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.
What is an endangered animal?
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.
“ The main difference between an endangered species and threatened species is that the latter refers to species that may face extinction in the near future, whereas endangered species are already facing extinction in the present moment. ”
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Some examples of endangered animals include:
- Rhinos
- African Elephants
- Amur Leopards
- Gorillas
- Brown Spider Monkeys
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, specialized protection programs, environmental legislation, and breeding programs to help keep reproduction rates at sufficient levels in order to avoid extinction altogether.
Why are emperor penguins important?
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.
“ “Emperor penguins have the ability to provide indispensable information on one of the most remote regions in the world currently suffering from the effects of global warming – Antarctica.” ”
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:
- Ecosystem Support – Emperor penguins play a crucial role in helping to support local ecosystems as they eat seafood, but also spend most of their time out of the water – which helps to fertilize the surrounding landscape with nitrogen, phosphorus, and organic carbon.
- Antarctic Food Chain – If emperor penguins were to go extinct, it would disrupt the entire Arctic food chain. This is because emperor penguins eat small marine animals such as squid and small fish, and also serve as a food source for predators such as seals and sharks.
- Tourism – Although only around 105,000 tourists visited Antarctica during the 2022-2023 season, emperor penguins have played a role in attracting tourists to the most isolated continent in the world. In other words, if emperor penguins are to go extinct – it may deter tourists from visiting and reduce the amount of money being pumped into Antarctica to allow for future scientific research to take place on the continent itself.
- Indicator of Climate Change – Emperor penguins serve as a key indicator regarding how rising global temperatures impact animals that require cooler temperatures to thrive. This is because emperor penguins remain extremely vulnerable to warmer climates, meaning that a change in their behavior or population can help to illustrate just how catastrophic the current effects of climate change are to Arctic animals.
👉 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.
Are emperor penguins endangered?
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.
“ “Climate change is having a profound impact on species around the world and addressing it is a priority for the Administration. The listing of the emperor penguin serves as an alarm bell but also a call to action.” – Martha Williams, Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. ”
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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:
- The population of emperor penguins appears to be relatively stable
- There are still 61 breeding colonies along the coast of Antarctica
- The Endangered Species Act (ESA) has determined that there is still time to help emperor penguins prevent reaching endangered levels
👉 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.
Are emperor penguins endangered or threatened because of climate change?
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:
- Breeding – These penguins need cool conditions for breeding grounds, and if temperatures continue to skyrocket – it will become more difficult for them to mate and maintain their population.
- Feeding – Emperor penguins rely on marine ecosystems for food, but if temperatures continue to rise – these food sources themselves could go extinct and put emperor penguins at further risk of extinction.
- Shedding – Also referred to as molting, emperor penguins need cool temperatures to properly shed their skin twice a year.
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.
How can we help emperor penguins?
Luckily, there are still many things we can do to protect emperor penguins from reaching endangered status.
“ There have been several species that have been able to escape extinction before even in grave circumstances, such as the bald eagle – meaning it’s more than possible to save emperor penguins, too. ”
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:
- Pass New Climate Legislation – Studies show that threatened species such as emperor penguins can greatly benefit from improving climate legislation to help fight poor air pollution and rising global temperatures which put their current living conditions at risk.
- Paris Agreement – This infamous international treaty can help to globally reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which can help to stabilize the climate and keep the world cool enough for emperor penguins to stick around.
- Prevent Overfishing – Emperor penguins rely on krill and fish for food, meaning that if we work to limit overfishing – we can ensure that emperor penguins have the food supply they need to keep their population thriving.
- Raise Awareness – It’s easy to forget about emperor penguins as they’re so far away from the rest of the world, but raising awareness via social media, community events, or NGOs such as World Wildlife Fund (WWF) or the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC) can help to raise the funds and awareness needed to save 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.
What About Greenly?
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