Emperor penguin could be listed as endangered species

Climate change threatens emperor penguins with extinction

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed

to list the birds as a threatened species

Emperor penguins breed on sea ice

and are vulnerable to melting ice caused by rising temperatures

There are approximately 61 breeding colonies along the coastline of Antarctica

with around 280,000 breeding pairs

The population is likely to plummet up to 47% by 2050

Source: Fish and Wildlife Service's news release