ANTARCTIC The Emperor penguins which featured in the film Happy Feet have suffered a devastating population slump in the past 50 years, according to a report by the WWF.

Many colonies have fallen in size by 50 per cent as the penguins are squeezed by the effects of climate change and overfishing. Emperor penguins are being driven from their territories as their nesting sites are destroyed by melting sea ice on the Antarctic’s western peninsula. It has retreated 40 per cent in three decades and is thought to be partly responsible for a huge reduction in the stocks of krill, a shrimp-like creature eaten by the penguins.

Emily Lewis-Brown, of WWF, said: “These icons of the Antarctic will have to face an extremely tough battle to survive.” Other species such as Gentoos, Chinstraps and Adélie are also suffering, said the report – Antarctic Penguins and Climate Change – which will be presented to the United Nations summit on climate change in Bali.