SYDNEY: The world needs to do more to protect the Antarctic wilderness and its wildlife, scientists warned on Tuesday, as they marked World Penguin Day.

The flightless seabirds — a favourite with children for their clumsy, waddling gait — offer a useful yardstick for researchers to judge the health of their habitat.

“Penguins are great ambassadors for understanding the need to conserve Southern Ocean resources,” Christian Reiss, an Antarctic fisheries biologist at the US-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said.

“They are the iconic species of this ecosystem and the fate of their populations will depend on effective ecosystem-based management, including understanding the role of climate change and human impacts.”

A Pew study in 2015 showed two thirds of the world’s 18 penguin species, which range from the volcanic Galapagos Islands on the equator to the frozen sea ice of Antarctica, were in decline.

Antarctic penguins in particular are vulnerable to climate change, with shifting ice reducing habitat while warming seas affect their prey.

Scientists blame intense fishing pressure on forage species such as krill, as well as pollution, degradation of breeding grounds, and climate change.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species, only two types of penguin — Adelie and King — are increasing in numbers.

Penguins live most of their lives at sea but return to land to breed and molt, making them important gauges of marine health that are easily accessible to researchers, who can then develop realistic and effective conservation ocean strategies.

Stanford University marine scientist Cassandra Brooks, who specialises in the Antarctic, said penguin populations on the frozen continent were both increasing (Adelies in the Ross Sea) and decreasing (Chinstraps in the Antarctic Peninsula area).

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2017