Status
Overall this species is not considered threatened and consequently listed as Least Concern by BirdLife International and IUCN. Most subspecies are relatively common with estimates of 10.000+ pairs of each, the exceptions being P. (a.) nivalis with approximately 1.000 pairs and P. (a.) purpurascens with approximately 760 pairs (has perhaps declined slightly from this figure in recent years). If these are considered separate species, it is likely one – or both – would qualify for a threatened status, and they are considered Vulnerable by DEWHA. Due to their small ranges and relatively small populations, they are highly susceptible to pollution and climate changes, and chance events such as storms. Deaths due to strikes with radio masts have been recorded in both, and are quite common in P. (a.) purpurascens. Introduced predators potentially also present a serious threat, though none are currently present on Heard Island and cats have been eradicated from Macquarie Island, leaving "only" rats, which, however, have been observed at nests of P. (a.) purpurascens.
Read more about this topic: Imperial Shag
Famous quotes containing the word status:
“Anthropologists have found that around the world whatever is considered “men’s work” is almost universally given higher status than “women’s work.” If in one culture it is men who build houses and women who make baskets, then that culture will see house-building as more important. In another culture, perhaps right next door, the reverse may be true, and basket- weaving will have higher social status than house-building.”
—Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen. Excerpted from, Gender Grace: Love, Work, and Parenting in a Changing World (1990)
“A genuine Left doesn’t consider anyone’s suffering irrelevant or titillating; nor does it function as a microcosm of capitalist economy, with men competing for power and status at the top, and women doing all the work at the bottom.... Goodbye to all that.”
—Robin Morgan (b. 1941)
“The censorship method ... is that of handing the job over to some frail and erring mortal man, and making him omnipotent on the assumption that his official status will make him infallible and omniscient.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)