Chilean scientists warn that Humboldt penguins face heightened risk after Chile's Environment Ministry reclassified the species as endangered. About 80% of the population lives along Chile's Pacific coast, with numbers estimated at fewer than 20,000 — down from roughly 45,000 in the late 1990s. Experts blame commercial fishing competition, habitat loss, pollution, bird flu and climate change, and say tougher, enforceable fishing and habitat protections are essential to prevent further decline.
Chile Declares Humboldt Penguins Endangered — Scientists Warn of Further Decline
Chilean scientists warn that Humboldt penguins face heightened risk after Chile's Environment Ministry reclassified the species as endangered. About 80% of the population lives along Chile's Pacific coast, with numbers estimated at fewer than 20,000 — down from roughly 45,000 in the late 1990s. Experts blame commercial fishing competition, habitat loss, pollution, bird flu and climate change, and say tougher, enforceable fishing and habitat protections are essential to prevent further decline.
05:10 PM, 11/11/2025Environment
Chile reclassifies Humboldt penguins as endangered as experts warn of continued decline
Researchers at Cachagua Island and the Universidad de Concepcion warned that Chile's recent decision to list the Humboldt penguin as endangered highlights an urgent conservation crisis for a species that breeds on temperate rocky coasts. About 80% of the world's remaining Humboldt penguins live along Chile's Pacific coast, and scientists estimate the population has fallen to fewer than 20,000 birds, down from roughly 45,000 in the late 1990s.
Although international conservation bodies currently list the species as vulnerable and prohibit commercial trade, Chile's Environment Ministry moved last month to reclassify the seabird as endangered. Biologists say the reclassification reflects worsening pressures but must be paired with stronger, enforceable protections to be effective.
Experts point to multiple, reinforcing threats: competition for food from commercial and small-scale fisheries, habitat loss and degradation, pollution, outbreaks of avian influenza and the intensifying impacts of climate change on marine ecosystems. These combined stressors have driven local declines and threaten long-term survival.
"The series of threats facing penguins today has not diminished," said Guillermo Cubillos, a marine biologist at Chile's national zoo. "If these threats persist over time, it is very likely this species will go from endangered to critically endangered, and from there it is a very short step to the species disappearing for good."
Veterinary specialist Paulina Arce noted that entanglement in fishing nets and competition for marine resources are immediate causes of mortality and reduced breeding success. She emphasized that reclassification alone is insufficient: lawmakers must enact and enforce sustainable fishing rules, protect critical breeding and feeding habitats, and expand monitoring and rapid-response measures to disease outbreaks.
Researchers and conservationists are calling for coordinated action across government agencies, fishery managers and local communities to reverse the penguins' decline. Without targeted, enforced measures to secure feeding grounds and nesting sites, scientists warn the population could deteriorate further toward a critical threshold.
(Reporting by Rodrigo Gutierrez; Writing by Sarah Morland; Editing by Patricia Reaney)