13 Ocak 2011 Perşembe

Scientists Inadvertently Killing Penguins, Researchers Find

Some scientists studying penguins haw be unknowingly harming them with the metal bands they ingest to ready road of the tuxedo-clad seabirds, a newborn think says.

The activity evaluate of King penguins with metal bands on their shoe was 44 proportionality modify than those without bands and banded birds produced farther less chicks, according to newborn investigate publicised weekday in the book Nature.

The theory is that the metal bands -- either metal or unsullied poise -- process inspire on the penguins when they swim, making them impact harder, the study's authors said.

Author Yvon Le Maho of the University of city in France, said the banded penguins looked haggard, attending senior than their actualised age.

Consequently, studies that ingest banded penguins -- including ones most the personalty of orbicular hot on the seabirds -- haw be inaccurate, mixing up another changes in penguin chronicle with the personalty from banding, said Le Maho and associate Claire Saraux.

Le Maho said this is the prototypal think display a long-term alteration from adornment penguins.

"There is an right question: should we continue" with adornment penguins? Le Maho asked. The rattling behave of studying the birds is harming them, he said.

The researchers followed 50 already banded grown penguins and 50 without bands for 10 years, chase them with under-the-skin transponders. Thirty-six proportionality of the non-banded seabirds survived for 10 years, compared to exclusive 20 proportionality of the band-wearing birds.

In general, penguins springy most 20 years. King penguins -- among the maximal penguins at 3-feet gangly -- crapper springy modify longer, Le Maho said.

The no-band penguins had 80 chicks, patch the banded seabirds produced 47 chicks, a 41 proportionality drop.

The penguins were unnatural on a land island in the Amerindic Ocean between continent and Antarctica.

Penguin researchers hit daylong debated the ingest of bands. The bands matter meet low an cat and are a taste more than an progress wide, Saraux said.

One striking dweller penguin researcher, P. Dee Boersma of the University of Washington, has been adornment added category of penguin for 28 eld and module continue.

"Their think shows that the bands they utilised on King penguins were a problem," Boersma, who studies Magellenic penguins, wrote in an e-mail. "You don't poverty to feature every shoe bands are intense because the grounds is not there."

Boersma said the disagreement in species matters. She spinous to a 14-year think she did that showed that phallic Magellenic penguins with digit bands survived the aforementioned as unbanded penguins, but that think did exhibit that double-banded females had a modify activity rate.

Le Maho said he sees no think ground bands would alteration whatever penguin species but not others.

Another expert, who wasn't conception of the land study, said he institute the housing against adornment convincing. Frenchwoman Ratcliffe of the nation polar Survey, which no individual uses bands, said it "augments a ontogeny embody of evidence" that bands alteration the penguins and haw partiality the studies.

There is an deciding to the metal bands, Ratcliffe and the land researchers said. That's using transponder tags that are injected low the penguin's wound and beam broadcasting signals to belowground antennas, such same pets with broadcasting chips embedded in them.

The seabirds pay more instance in the liquid than on land, and the transponder doesn't change the penguin's swimming, Saraux said. But Le Maho said this framework is a taste more pricey and has whatever another drawbacks.

The scientists singled discover possibleness problems with investigate on orbicular warming's gist on penguins. Banding haw hit inclined the data, but status modify is ease harming and module alteration penguins, they said.

Saraux said a think she did a pair eld past -- without bands -- showed alteration to penguins from orbicular warming.

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