Scientists try to boost Argentina's penguin population

February 26, 1999
Web posted at: 6:26 p.m. EST (2326 GMT)

PUNTA TOMBO, Argentina (CNN) -- Every September, Magellanic penguins return to the bleak shores near Punta Tombo to mate and raise their chicks. But each year, the penguin population goes down by a few percentage points. Researchers are compiling data on the reasons for the decline and trying to reverse it.

The New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society has sponsored a penguin study for 16 years. Through banding, measuring and weighing the Punta Tombo penguins, and tracking their movements by satellite, researchers are learning how the penguins survive -- and how they die.

"The more you know about a species, the more you understand about how better to help protect them," said Alan Clark of the Wildlife Conservation Society.

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About three out of four penguin chicks do not live to the fledging stage, Clark said. Fresh out of the nest, they are easy prey for foxes, armadillos and gulls.

Even if they make it out of the nest and enter the sea, most young penguins starve to death during their first year. Some conservationists blame overfishing by trawler fleets in the areas where penguins feed.

Another serious threat cited by conservationists is pollution from oil tankers, which repeatedly kills thousands of penguins along Argentina's coast.

While the law protects the penguins from being hunted by man, only international conservation measures can prevent them from being wiped out by other human activity, some experts say.

Correspondent Gary Strieker contributed to this report.

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Wildlife Conservation Society
SeaWeb
IUCN -- World Conservation Union
Year of the Ocean

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