U.S. to extend Endangered Species Act protections to penguin species

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SAN FRANCISCO — Several species of penguins will get special protection after a federal judge in San Francisco approved a legal settlement involving the Endangered Species Act.

Under the agreement approved last Thursday by U.S. District Judge Samuel Conti, the U.S. Department of the Interior will finalize protections for seven species -- African, Humboldt, yellow-eyed, white-flippered, Fiordland-crested, erect-crested and a population of southern rockhopper penguins.

The settlement comes after the Center for Biological Diversity and the Turtle Island Restoration Network sued the federal government.

Though penguins are not native to the United States, the act compels federal agencies to analyze and reduce the effects of emissions on certain protected species.

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-- Associated Press