Until recently, the gentoo penguin (Pygoscelis papua) was thought to be a single, wide-spread species, but researchers now have evidence that it consists of four separate species, one of them previously unknown to science. This is the first new penguin species described in more than 100 years – the Northern rockhopper penguin (Eudyptes moseleyi) was […]
Tag: Magellanic Penguin
Petition: Argentina Must Act Now to Save Its Magellanic Penguins
Around the world, penguins are facing a rapidly declining population due to climate change – but also thanks to unsustainable fishing practices. Thankfully, South Africa just showed the world that can change. A compromise between the country’s conservationists and the fishing industry led to the establishment of no-fishing zones around African penguin breeding colonies for […]
How a penguin ‘massacre’ led to historic new protections in Argentina
As spring turns to summer in the southern hemisphere, the Punta Tombo Natural Protected Area on Argentina’s central coast comes alive, with the chicks of some 180,000 pairs of nesting Magellanic penguins braying and peeping 24/7. That penguin-palooza was nearing a crescendo in November 2021 when tragedy struck. A local rancher named Ricardo La Regina, […]
What Did Scientists Learn After Thousands of Penguins Were Slaughtered by Mountain Lions?
In 2007, only three years after the creation of Monte León National Park along the wild coastline of Argentine Patagonia, efforts to protect penguins took an unexpected turn. A female puma was slaughtering Magellanic penguins in droves. Some of these she would eat, while other surplus kills were left to rot. Before long, her cubs […]
6 Exciting Ways To See More Wild Animals
Generally speaking, all animals are spectacular, but there’s just something special about the wild ones that words cannot describe properly. Maybe it’s the fact that we do not get to see them on a regular basis, hence coming face to face with them is a truly extraordinary experience. Unfortunately, the modern world hasn’t given its […]