Planning for Vulnerable Penguin Populations in Peru and Chile

Found on coastal islands and a few isolated peninsulas in Peru and Chile, Humboldt penguins get their name from the cold Humboldt Current that flows northward from Antarctica along the western coast of South America. These penguins prefer to nest on guano islands created by the hundreds of thousands of seabirds that also live there. But, Humboldt penguins face threats from human fishing, including overfishing that reduces their food supply and entanglement in nets cast for fish; other kinds of human disturbance, including tourism; and predation. Humboldt penguin habitat is also threatened by illegal guano harvest that destroys nesting sites. That’s why the species is listed as vulnerable and declining on the IUCN Red List.  

In 1998, CPSG (then known as CBSG) carried out a Population and Habitat Viability Assessment (PHVA) workshop in Chile to identify major threats to the populations in Chile and Peru. As a result of that workshop, CPSG recommended four key strategies:

  • Begin long-term monitoring of the populations through regular, systematic, standardized censuses;
  • Decrease mortality due to entanglement in fishing nets and direct poaching;
  • Increase reproductive success; and
  • Decrease the effects of El Nino events on adult mortality.

Twenty-one years later, in October 2019, a Population Viability Analysis (PVA) workshop, immediately followed by a PHVA workshop—both held in Lima, Peru—reassessed the Humboldt penguin populations in Peru and Chile, evaluated progress made towards the goals of the 1998 workshop, and identified priority strategies and actions for moving forward to help the penguins. CPSG assisted with population modeling  as well as process design and facilitation of the workshop, which was sponsored by the Peruvian government and included Peruvian and Chilean ientists, Peruvian government officials, NGOs, IUCN members, representatives from U.S. and Peruvian zoos, and others.

Surveys of the Humboldt penguin population in Chile between 2000 and 2008, and in Peru between 2009 and 2019, provided the basis for population modeling. While the surveys revealed some additional colonies of penguins (especially in Peru) that were not known during the 1998 PHVA, the census data overall suggest that the populations could be decreasing by as much as 10 percent per year in recent years.

Overfishing, net entanglement, human disturbance, and predation by native and introduced predators are key drivers of penguin deaths. Guano harvest regulation is effective on islands where implemented, but harvest on many islands isn’t monitored, and there is illegal harvest. Very limited information on reproductive rates, chick survival and juvenile mortality is available because studying these birds that live spread out on a long coastline is challenging. 

Specific goals resulting from the workshop include:

  • Develop a better understanding the food and energy requirements of Humboldt penguins as they relate to food availability
  • Improve the design of gill nets to reduce penguin mortality while maintaining the fishery catch
  • Reduce predation and human disturbance, including from tourism
  • Decrease the impacts of environmental contamination and disease
  • Continue to refine sustainable guano harvesting practices in Peru and Chile, and reduce the impacts of illegal harvesting
  • Increase the level of collaboration within the scientific community (short term)
  • Educate the public about how they can help with Humboldt penguin conservation (long term)
  • Develop long term research monitoring methods and implementation protocols across specific major breeding sites
  • Consistently census across the range
  • Increase knowledge of juvenile and adult dispersal by defining where they go during life cycle stages, different times of the year, across years (for example, during El Niño years)

Detailed actions, timelines, and responsible parties were identified for each goal, and an oversight team was charged with monitoring progress towards the goals.  A final report from the workshop is in progress.

The workshops, sponsored by the Peruvian Ministry of the Environment (MINAM), included scientists from Peru and Chile; representatives from the Peruvian Ministries of Fisheries Research and Agriculture and  the National Forest and Wildlife Service; Peruvian NGOs; members of the IUCN Penguin Specialist Group; and representatives from zoos in the United States and Peru, among others. Julio Reyes, President of ACOREMA (Areas Costeras y Recursos Marinos, a Peruvian NGO) coordinated all in-country logistics, guiding the planning through numerous unexpected changes. Julio’s working mantra: “We can work it out.” And he always did!

 

Photo Credit: Dori [CC BY-SA 3.0 us (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/us/deed.en)]