Penguin species near extinction, visit remotest island in the world

January 16, 8:09 PMNY Budget Travel ExaminerSusan Finch

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Despite the fact that my husband had to work with art elements from the movie Happy Feet, we watched the movie on fast-forward. I really can't stand it.

Unfortunately, those cute little animated penguins are the depiction of the now very endangered rockhopper penguins.  On Friday, researchers reported that this penguins species has declined by a whopping 90 percent over the last 50 years.

"Historically, we know that penguins were exploited by people, and that wild dogs and pigs probably had an impact on their numbers," Richard Cuthbert of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and lead author of the paper, said in a statement. "However, these factors cannot explain the staggering declines since the 1950s, when we have lost upwards of a million birds from Gough and Tristan."

Declines at the Gough since the 1950's indicate a loss of 100 birds every day for the last 50 years, noted Cuthbert. Scientists site climate change, overfishing, and changes in marine ecosystems as possible culprits.

In addition to the rockhoppers, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service proposed listing the African penguin as endangered along with the New Zealand yellow-eyed penguin, the white-flippered penguin, the Fiordland crested penguin and the erect-crested penguin. From Chile, the Humboldt penguin of Chile and Peru is also considered endangered.

Rockhopper penguins live in the British overseas territories of Gough Island (rhymes with cough) and the Tristan da Cunha Island, both South Atlantic islands. On Gogh, it's estimated that about six people work on the island in a weather station that the South African National Antarctic Programme has used since the 1950's. It's also a protected wildlife reserve and a designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Tristan da Cunha, about 2,000 kilometers from  the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, has been called "the remotest island in the world" and is home to around 300 people in the Settlement of Edinburgh of the Seven Seas. You might find as many as seven different last names among its tight-knit locals. The island has a thriving crayfish industry  and has a small museum, craft shop, a swimming pool, local shops, supermarket, and a radio-station.

In New York, you can visit the species Gentoo and Chinstrap penguins at The Central Park Zoo ($8 adult admission, $3 children) where a debate over the gay penguins Roy and Silo (don't ask, don't tell) ensued in 2004. Among other New York penguin hot spots, the Magellanic species can be found at the Bronx Zoo ($15 adults, $11 children limited admission or pay-as-you-wish on Wednesdays).

The Queens Zoo ($6 adults, $2 children) features its own Antarctic penguin habitat where visitors can watch daily feedings. The Prospect Park Zoo ($6 adults, $2 children) in Brooklyn also houses Magellanic penguins and the New York Aquarium ($13 adults, $9 children, Fridays from 3:00 p.m. until closing is pay-what-you-wish) in Coney Island also houses penguins.

Although the endangered rockhoppers don't seem to be visiting New York's zoo's anytime soon, you can support our city's zoo's and learn more about penguins species from around the world.

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Email me your budget travel questions and challenges at travelexaminer@yahoo.com.  I'll post them here and help you get on the open road. 

*Zoo prices were correct at the time this was published, but rates may have changed.