Argentinian Penguins Still Under Threat

The preliminary results of a national penguin beach walk, during which volunteers searched for birds affected by oil pollution along Argentinian beaches, were announced by the Wildlife Conservation Society.

A strategy known as the Patagonian Coastal Zone Management Plan was implemented to pressure oil companies to address how oil spills were killing 40,000 Magellanic penguins in the early '90s.

So far, the results have been good with very few oiled penguins found.

However, there were still a significant number of dead penguins, raising questions about lack of food as a threat to coastal wildlife. Large quantities of garbage were also found washed up on shores.

“We were happy to find virtually no oiled penguins, but clearly wildlife is still being impacted by human activities at sea,” said Graham Harris of the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Plans are underway to expand the walk to additional countries that have penguins on their shores.

—LiveScience Staff

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