“Lovelace” the Rockhopper Penguin Near Extinction

Rockhopper Penguin

The animated film “Happy Feet” was a hit among kids and parents back in 2006.  If you’re like me, you probably found the character, “Lovelace,” voiced by the always animated Robin Williams, to be unforgettable.  But unforgettable is now a description that applies in more ways than one for the Northern Rockhopper Penguin.

Researchers reported last week that populations of the frilly-headed penguin dropped an astounding 90% over the past 50 years.  A few decades ago, millions of Northern Rockhopper Penguins lived on islands in the South Atlantic.  Today, the numbers are in the tens of thousands on Gough Island and Tristan da Cunha Island.

Consider this startling fact:

“The declines at Gough since the 1950s are equivalent to losing 100 birds every day for the last 50 years.”

Put into perspective this way, it would seem that we have only a few more years of the Northern Rockhopper Penguin before natural extinction (yes, you can see a few of them in zoos around the world, but the animal deserves to live in its natural habitat).

The causes for the declining population should not be as startling, however.  Climate change, overfishing and shifts in marine ecosystems are top culprits.   More than half of the penguin species in the world are facing similar fates as the one suffered by the Northern Rockhopper Penguin.

In “Happy Feet,” one of the dramatic scenes of the movie shows Lovelace near death because of a six-pack plastic container wrapped around his neck.  Looking back on the film, I consider how sadly prophetic the scene was.  Of course, the movie is overall entertaining and funny – much like Robin Williams.  But it helped raise awareness of the plight of the penguins, and hopefully helped you consider the serious reality of man’s impact on wildlife everywhere.

Want to learn more about the Rockhopper Penguin, please click here.