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Emperor penguin endangered by early break-up of fast ice

Emperor penguins need stable fast ice for about 10 months a year to raise chicks. Record low sea ice extent in 2022 and 2023 led to breeding failure in some colonies.

On 9 April 2026 the IUCN moved the emperor penguin from Near Threatened to Endangered. Satellite images indicate a loss of about 10 percent of the population between 2009 and 2018, more than 20,000 adult birds, and numbers are projected to halve by the 2080s. An Australian Antarctic Division study found 13 of 27 East Antarctic colonies at risk of breeding failure, with failures already recorded at 9 of them. In July 2025 the Mawson station team carried out the annual census of the Taylor Glacier colony (about 2,500 birds on average in 2002-2023).

Species

Needs

• habitat

Who is helping

Organisations that, according to their own publications, work on this event (1). Donations go directly to each organisation's own website - GLOBURNS does not handle payments.

• Australian Antarctic Division (AAD)
  The Australian Antarctic Division runs the Australian Antarctic Program and research stations in Antarctica and on Macquarie Island. In 2025-2026 it studied the impact…

Sources

• iucn.org iucn.org/press-release/202604/emperor-penguin-and-antarctic-fur-seal-now-endangered-due-c…
• antarctica.gov.au antarctica.gov.au/about-antarctica/animals/penguins/emperor-penguin/
• antarctica.gov.au antarctica.gov.au/news/2024/satellite-imagery-charts-emperor-penguins-struggle-to-survive/
• antarctica.gov.au antarctica.gov.au/news/2025/mawson-emperor-penguin-census/

Seed record, before editorial verification. Every number links to its source; report errors on the Corrections page. Methodology · Corrections

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