IUCN announced emperor penguins as an "endangered species" due to melting sea ice

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has officially included the emperor penguin in the Red List of Threatened Species in the "endangered" category, raising the status of the emblematic Antarctic bird from the previous "least concern" rubric. The decision, announced on Thursday, is among the most significant reclassifications of polar species in recent years and is directly linked to the loss of sea ice due to climate change.

A decade of decline

The IUCN's decision follows accumulated evidence that emperor penguin colonies are declining across Antarctica. According to Philip Trathan of the IUCN Penguin Specialist Group, satellite images collected since 2009 show that the population has been in constant decline for more than a decade. "Ultimately, there is only one trajectory – and it is downward," Trathan told ABC News.

A peer-reviewed study published in 2025 in "Nature Communications Earth & Environment" reports a 22% reduction in the number of emperor penguins in a key sector of Antarctica for the period 2009-2023, with a 30% decline within three generations being estimated at 91%. The rate of losses exceeds the forecasts of demographic models even in scenarios with high greenhouse gas emissions.

The main threat is the disappearance of sea ice, which penguins use for breeding, molting and feeding. Since 2016, the area of Antarctic sea ice has been shrinking ever faster, disrupting every stage of the species' life cycle. A study published in February in "Nature" shows that the melting ice also destroys traditional molting sites – a previously underestimated risk that can lead to the death of adult birds even before they have restored their waterproof feathers.

Not alone in danger

The emperor penguin is not the only Antarctic species with a changed status in the latest update. The Antarctic fur seal jumps from the "least concern" category directly to "endangered": in the last three generations, the adult population has decreased by about 57%, mainly due to the decline in the number of krill as a result of the warming of the ocean. "Such a jump across so many categories is extremely rare," emphasizes Kit Kovacs, chairman of the IUCN Seal Specialist Group.

The southern elephant seal has also been moved – from "least concern" to "vulnerable", after in 2023 and 2024 bird flu destroyed about 90% of the young, and breeding females decreased by approximately 67%.

Calls for stronger protection

Conservation organizations are calling for additional measures. Researchers are calling on the parties to the Antarctic Treaty, who will meet in May, to give the emperor penguin the status of a "species under special protection". Such a decision would allow limiting the additional pressure on weakened colonies from fishing and tourism.

A 2025 study by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution already recommends raising the species' conservation status in the IUCN system, warning that if current emission levels are maintained, almost all emperor penguin colonies could disappear by 2100. The new IUCN decision puts an official stamp on these warnings and highlights how little time is left for action if the world wants to preserve the largest of all penguins in the wild.