Biologists hope new 'condos' will help Galapagos penguins stave off extinction

http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2010/10/19/biologist_hopes_new_condos_will_help_galapagos_penguins_stave_off_extinction.html

Summary – This article is about how scientists have built penguin nests in the rocks of the Galapagos Islands to create a safe, sheltered place where the endangered Galapagos penguins can breed. The penguins’ population has declined steadily within the past 40 years, and it is estimated that only 2,000 remain. Therefore, it is important that they find the new nests and begin breeding, since at this time, they have a lot of food coming in from La Niña. Also, the scientists made sure to build nests where there aren’t introduced predators, which have played a big role in the penguins’ population decline. The scientists aren’t yet sure whether the penguin’s will be able to find the nests in time, but they will check back later to make observations.

Opinion – I think this is amazing!!! I have always really loved penguins and I am really glad that people are taking steps to prevent their population from declining. If the penguins were to go extinct, it could cause severe changes in the whole Galapagos Islands ecosystem. I think that this was a good time to build the nests as well, because now the penguins will have shelter and a lot of food from La Niña. Something I thought was a little strange in this article was that it said the penguins’ population was going down because of predators, and it listed pigs as one of the predators. I think that’s weird because I never heard of carnivore pigs, but other than that this is a great article.