Southern Giant Petrel
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m (Protected "Southern Giant Petrel" [edit=sysop:move=sysop]) |
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'''Habitat:''' Southern Hemisphere; | '''Habitat:''' Southern Hemisphere; | ||
| - | '''Status:''' Vulnerable | + | '''Status:''' Vulnerable; The population of southern giant petrels underwent a decline of at least 20 percent over the last 60 years. Between 1997 and 1998, an estimated 2,000 to 4,000 southern giant petrels were killed in illegal and unregulated longline fisheries for Patagonian toothfish in the Southern Ocean. Other threats include a decline in the population of the southern elephant seal Mirounga leonine (an important source of carrion for the petrel), increasing disturbance by humans and persecution. The Southern Giant Petrel is listed as endangered in Australia. |
| - | '''Diet:''' | + | '''Diet:''' Seal and penguin carcasses, offal, refuse from ships and discarded fish; they often feed close to trawlers and vessels fishing with longlines. They also prey upon penguins and other birds, krill and amphipod crustaceans, fish and squid. During chick rearing, they depend heavily on penguins and seal colonies, as a food resource. |
'''Nesting:''' | '''Nesting:''' | ||
| - | '''Cool Facts:''' | + | '''Cool Facts:''' Petrels are able to regurgitate foul-smelling oil which they spit at intruders; this habit earned the southern giant petrel the alternative name of ‘stinker'. |
