Researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society at the University of Washington are trying to figure out why many more penguin chicks are being born without feathers, or lose their feathers at an early age. The researchers have just recently discovered why the penguin chicks are losing their feathers, it is because of a feather-loss disorder, which is affecting penguins from colonies in the South Atlantic. The researchers know why they are losing their feathers, but they are not entirely sure of how. What is very startling about thisaspect, is that feather-loss disorders are very uncommon in almost all species, and that the losing of the feathers seems to be spreading very quickly from penguin to penguin. The loss of feathers seems to be a side effect of some other epidemic that is sweeping through the penguin colonies, the featherless chicks are smaller in weight and size than feathered chicks, and are often less intelligent. The chicks without a insulated coat, seemed to have less common sense, standing in direct sunlight and essentially frying to death. The researchers have concluded that the loss of many penguin chick's feathers is probably due to thyroid disease, unknown pathogens, nutrient imbalances, or genetics. Peng
uins already face a huge list of threats, all of which are from human causes, making this cause seem less important, but the fact that penguin chicks are losing feathers, and as a result dying, is a very urgent and important situation.http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110408140924.htm
I think this is pretty sad because I personally like penguins. But I'm not really sure that there's anything we can do to fix this. If it's just an issue with genetics then it maybe can be helped. But if it's just a problem with penguins common sense then I don't really see us being able to fix the problem.
ReplyDeleteThis is so sad I love penguins too! I feel very strong about helping any kind of problem that affects marine life. It would be nice to know what exactly is causing this "disease" so that we would know what to do or what to stop doing. But for now I guess the naked penguins just need people there to help them not fry to death.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to start by saying those are the grossest looking naked penguins I've ever seen. They're so ugly, they're adorable. However, the issue at hand is very disturbing, especially since this seems to be a rare ordeal. Hopefully, even without their feathers, these birds will soon be able to function normally so as not to cause death. It is interesting that this feather loss would relate to common sense also, since the two things seemingly have nothing in common. It's a sad truth, and I hope we as humans find a cure to this new discovery for the penguins sake.
ReplyDeleteI, along with everyone above me, think penguins are adorable animals but these naked critters are a shock to see. It appears that this disease, somewhat like a penguin leprosy, is negatively affecting the species. Not really a whole lot we can do other than hope that the feathered, more intelligent penguins catch on and start ostracizing the ones with the disorder so it doesn't continue to spread.
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