Photo: Allan White

The findings of an international Workshop, which met to develop a conservation action plan for rockhopper penguins, particularly in the South Atlantic Ocean, have been published by BirdLife International.

Over the past 37 years the number of southern rockhopper penguins (211,000 breed today in the Falkland Islands) has declined by 34%. Birdlife International (2008) lists the southern rockhopper penguin as Vulnerable. The Workshop produced a current total population estimate for all known southern rockhopper breeding sites: a total of 1.23 million pairs.

The potential causes of decline were identified as: tourism and land-based predation, disease, pollution, fisheries interactions, and shortages of food either from climate change or changes in the food web reducing the amount of available prey. The Workshop concluded that no single factor is responsible for the population declines. It seems likely that a shortage of food is involved at many sites, but that other factors may also be operating and may differ between sites.

International recommendations for action include research and co-operation to address key knowledge gaps in taxonomy, global population, demography, foraging and diet. A global census is proposed to revaluate the conservation status of the rockhopper penguin. Long-term studies of individual birds are needed for both the northern and southern species to assess survival, age at first breeding and breeding frequency.

There are specific actions outlined for the Falkland Islands. It is recommended that the rockhopper penguin population here is counted every 5 years and monitored annually. In addition, the needs to monitor wildlife health and have an updated oil contingency plan for the Islands are emphasized.

The Report stresses the importance of continuing the current rockhopper penguin demographic research on New Island, and that a second research site should be established in the northern part of the Falkland Islands. Falklands Conservation has now started a project to do just this on Steeple Jason Island which will develop a Species Action Plan for the Southern Rockhopper Penguin in the Falkland Islands.

It is recognized that implementation of this Report requires long-term funding, and international collaboration. These elements are crucial to our understanding of the rockhopper penguin and must be addressed if we are to halt the serious decline in its populations.