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🇦🇺 Australia /Environment & Climate

Penguin researchers issue climate warning as bird flu shadows global meeting

From ABC Australia · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Penguin researchers meeting in Australia warned that climate change is putting growing pressure on penguin habitats and ocean ecosystems.
  • The conference statement called for decisive conservation action, including sustainable fisheries, habitat protection, predator management and long-term monitoring.
  • The meeting followed the death of a little penguin from H5 bird flu, while more than 1,500 birds had been vaccinated as part of a plan to vaccinate 5,000.

Penguin researchers ended a global conference on Phillip Island with a warning that climate change is reshaping the habitats the birds need to survive.

Decisive conservation action

· 12th International Penguin Conference statementThe conference statement called for stronger measures to protect penguins and their habitats.

More than 200 experts attended the 12th International Penguin Conference in Victoria. They discussed new research, conservation strategies and ways to manage bird flu before releasing a statement calling for “decisive conservation action” to protect penguins and their habitats.

“When penguins struggle we should pay attention. Their warning is about the health of our oceans and ultimately the health of our planet,” the statement said. “Penguins cannot tell us in words that their world is changing. They are showing us.”

When penguins struggle we should pay attention. Their warning is about the health of our oceans and ultimately the health of our planet.

· 12th International Penguin Conference statementThe statement framed penguin decline as an indicator of wider ocean and planetary health.

Andre Chiaradia, a senior scientist at Phillip Island Nature Parks and chair of the conference, said changing oceans could affect where penguins feed, when they breed, how they raise chicks and whether populations increase or decline. He also pointed to melting ice shelves, saying they were disappearing at a “scary, fast pace” and leaving penguins with fewer places to breed.

Penguins are suffering from a thousand cuts so [bird flu] is just an extra cut on penguins' lives.

· Andre ChiaradiaThe conference chair described bird flu as an additional pressure on penguins already affected by climate and other threats.

Chiaradia described bird flu as another pressure on populations already facing many threats. He said sustainable fisheries, protection of feeding and breeding grounds, predator management and long-term monitoring could help penguins become more resilient. Phillip Island is home to about 40,000 little penguins, the world’s largest colony. The conference followed the death of a little penguin from H5 bird flu in August. More than 1,500 penguins have since been vaccinated under a government program targeting 5,000 birds on Phillip Island and at St Kilda.

If we do what we can … then we can probably provide a brighter future for penguins.

· Andre ChiaradiaChiaradia said conservation measures could improve penguins’ prospects.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Australia in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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