World Penguin Day 2014: Campaigners Say Nations Need to Save World’s Penguin Population

World Penguin Day is being celebrated on Friday, April 25, but some campaigners are saying that nations that are active in the Antarctic region need to help save the flightless birds.

“In many ways they’re an iconic species, and every cute animal brings out some emotion in people,” Karoline Andaur, who is in charge of the World Wildlife Fund Norway’s marine program, according to DW.de.

She added: “The problem is that it’s not easy to identify the threats to penguins. You’d think that they’re naturally protected just by being so far away from human beings. But they’re under invisible threats like climate change, ocean acidification, overfishing … These [Antarctic] waters are home not only to penguins but also to the blue whale, which is earth’s largest living creature, as well as to humpback whales, penguins, seals, and krill.”

Truls Gulowsen, who heads Greenpeace Norway, told DW that “penguins are under a real threat from climate change, which is changing the areas where they’re living, but they’re also under threat from krill fishing and other fishing that takes their food.”

According to a conservation website, “all of the species of penguins in the world are protected. There are laws that prevent them from being hunted and from their eggs being taken,” but, it adds that “poaching and stealing” eggs still goes on.

The penguin species with the highest population is the Macaroni penguin with 11,654,000 pairs. The penguin species with the lowest population is the endangered Galapagos penguin, which only has 6,000-15,000 individuals, according to the Defenders of Wildlife organization.