The species is now “endangered,” pushed to the brink by climate change in Antarctica.
Emperor penguins have braved cold, storms, famine and predation to breed, ensuring the survival of their population. But climate change could defeat Antarctica’s iconic birds.
On April 9, the largest of all penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) were officially moved from threatened with extinction by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The network of around 17,000 scientists and experts from more than 160 countries maintains the IUCN Red Lista rolling tally of how different species are threatened in the wild. The “endangered” status means the birds are now considered to face “a very high risk of extinction in the wild.”
Scientists say it’s the breakup and loss of sea ice around Antarctica that is pushing birds to the brink. Over the past decade, Antarctica has experienced record levels in the extent of the sea ice which borders the continent, and ice break-up also occurs earlier in the year. This is devastating for emperor penguins, which need “fast” ice – sea ice that is stationary for most of the year – to breed and raise their young. If the ice breaks too soon, the chicks are at serious risk of drowning or freezing to death because the young birds do not yet have waterproof feathers.
In 2022, satellites observed the catastrophic loss of five separate emperor penguin breeding colonies near the Bellingshausen Sea: the sea ice beneath them has broken up, resulting in an estimated loss of around 10,000 chicks. Current populations of emperor penguins are estimated at around 595,000 adults, a decrease of 10 to 22 percent from 2009. Current population numbers are expected to decline by half by 2080, according to the IUCN.
“The move to endangered status of the emperor penguin is a stark warning that climate change is accelerating the extinction crisis before our eyes,” Martin Harper, CEO of BirdLife International, said in a statement. The organization led the assessment of emperor penguins.
The loss of sea ice is also responsible for the rapid movement of the Antarctic fur seal (Arctocephalon gazelle) several notches closer to extinction, the IUCN report says. In 1999, these animals were considered “least concern” on the IUCN Red List, with an adult population of Antarctic fur seals numbering approximately 2,187,000 individuals. But by 2025, that population had fallen to 944,000 individuals, a dramatic decline that earned the seals endangered species status.
Climate change is also to blame for the decline of seals: rising ocean temperatures and shrinking sea ice are pushing their main food source, tiny crustaceans called krill, into the ocean depths. As a result, seal pups are much less likely to survive their first year.