The Unique Conservation Challenges of Saving the Vulnerable Desert Humboldt Penguin

Featured Speaker: Michael Macek, Curator of Birds, Saint Louis Zoo; Director, Center for Conservation of the Humboldt Penguin, Punta San Juan, Peru
Unlike their polar cousins, temperate species of penguins such as the Humboldt, are presented with a unique set of conservation challenges. At the turn of the century, the Humboldt penguin was thought to exist in numbers close to several hundreds of thousands. Today, only 60,000 survive. Threats vary from overfishing of the penguins' main prey species, Anchovetta, to the increased frequency of El Nino events.
The Center for Conservation of the Humboldt Penguin in Punta San Juan, Peru, has been working with a network of partners over the course of the last ten years to develop a multifaceted conservation program. Through these partnerships, real change has occurred and the future of the Humboldt penguin looks brighter.
Michael Macek has been the Saint Louis Zoo's Curator of Birds for the past 18 years. In addition to managing the Zoo's collection of nearly 200 avian species, Michael oversees three long-term in-situ Zoo sponsored conservation endeavors involving the threatened Humboldt penguin in Punta San Juan, Peru; the critically endangered horned guan in Chiapas, Mexico; and the critically endangered avifauna of the Mariana Islands.