研究者發(fā)現(xiàn)，世界上最大的國王企鵝群自從20世紀(jì)80年代開始已經(jīng)萎縮了近90%，而科學(xué)家尚不知道原因。

《南極科學(xué)》期刊概述的這一發(fā)現(xiàn)，是通過分別將2015年和2017年的系列衛(wèi)星照片與80年代的照片比較后得出的。配對繁殖的企鵝數(shù)量自80年代至今下降了88%。

從最近的照片上，可以找出大約6萬對企鵝，而在80年代有大約50萬對。

數(shù)量萎縮的國王企鵝群，聚居在法屬科雄島，或稱豬島，屬于亞南極的克羅澤群島。在這個無人居住的島上，還聚居著大群的印度洋流浪信天翁，以及大量的各種類海豹——南象海豹、南極毛皮海獅和安島海狗。島上還有為數(shù)不少的瀕危物種北跳巖企鵝。

國王企鵝在體型上僅次于皇帝企鵝，它們在氣候較為溫和的南極海岸北部的島上繁殖。

目前還不清楚，是什么導(dǎo)致了這群企鵝數(shù)量的下降，從全球范圍來看，國王企鵝如同其他鳥類種群一樣，受到了氣候變化的威脅。令人擔(dān)憂的是，隨著氣候繼續(xù)變暖，這些鳥類將不得不遷徙，離開它們的覓食地。為它們的后代覓食將因此變得越發(fā)困難。

國王企鵝大多在南緯45度到55度之間的亞南極島嶼上繁殖。（財富中文網(wǎng)）

譯者：宣峰

The world’s largest king penguin colony has shrunk nearly 90% since the 1980s, researchers say, and scientists don’t quite know why.

The findings, outlined in an article in the journal Antarctic Science, were achieved by comparing serial and satellite images in 2015 and 2017, with those from the 1980s, respectively. Breeding pair numbers fell 88% between the 1980s and today.

Some 60,000 penguin pairs can be spotted in the recent images, down from half a million pairs recorded in the 1980s.

The colony in question lies on France’s ?le aux Cochons, or Pig Island, in the subantarctic Crozet Archipelago. The uninhabited island also hosts the largest colony of wandering albatrosses in the Indian Ocean, as well as large populations of various species of seal—southern elephant, Antarctic fur and subantarctic fur seals. There are also substantial numbers of northern rockhopper penguins, an endangered species.

Second only to the emperor penguin in size, the king penguin breeds on the more temperate islands north of the Antarctic coast.

Whilst it is not clear what generated this particular population decline, globally speaking the king penguin—like other bird populations—could be at risk from climate change. The worry is that as the climate warms further, the birds will be forced to relocate, taking them further from their foraging grounds. Fetching food for their chicks would thus become an impossible task.

King penguins largely breed on the sub-Antarctic islands between 45 and 55 degrees South.