Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2022L00775:reg:18:p71
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2022L00775
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 18 (pt 71/152)
Character Range: 236293–239271

regulated; hence it is believed not to contribute to a decrease in the species. It is currently unknown what impact warming oceans will have on Gentoo Penguin populations.

Recommended Management Actions
      Quantify the breeding population on Heard Island

      Investigate the cause of the population decline observed on Macquarie Island

      Regularly monitor breeding populations at index locations

    Implement best practice quarantine measures at breeding colonies to reduce the risk of any invasive species (re)establishing on islands

      Maintain bycatch mitigation strategies in relevant fishery operations

Wildlife Conservation Plan for Seabirds 103
Species profiles

Rockhopper Penguin (Eudyptes chrysocome)

Life History and Distribution
The Rockhopper Penguin (Eudyptes chrysocome) is the smallest of the crested penguin group but larger than Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor). The southern Rockhopper Penguin differ from their northern counterparts in having a narrower supercilium and shorter plumes, which reach just over the black throat. The species breeds on islands located in the South Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans, ranging from 46º S in the South Atlantic and South Indian Oceans to Macquarie Island at 54ºS in the Southern Ocean, and a number of offshore islands in southern Argentina and Chile. This species returns to its breeding colonies in October, which range from sea-level sites to cliff-tops, and sometimes inland. Two eggs are laid and incubated during November and December for 32-34 days. In February, the chicks fledge and depart the colony (BirdLife International 2019). At most breeding sites, only one chick fledges, but there is some evidence that it is not unusual for Rockhopper Penguins in the Falkland Islands (Malvinas) to raise two chicks (Clausen and Pütz 2002; Poisbleau et al. 2008). At the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), hybridization occurs with Macaroni (White and Clausen 2002) and northern Rockhopper Penguins (Crofts and Robson 2016). Rockhopper Penguins prey on a variety of fish, crustaceans and cephalopods (Williams 1995), but there is individual dietary specialization during part of their annual cycle (Dehnhard et al. 2016).

Population Estimates and Trends
Several populations have experienced major long-term population crashes. Approximately 1.5 million pairs are estimated to have been lost from Campbell Island (94 per cent of the original total) between 1942 and 1986 (Cunningham and Moors 1994), with a further 21.8 per cent decrease between 1986 and 2012 (Morrison et al. 2015). In the Falkland Islands (Malvinas), the population decreased by around 1.2 million pairs between 1932 and 2000 (20 per cent of the original total) (Pütz et al. 2003). At Staten Island, the numbers of Rockhopper Penguins decreased by 24 per cent between the censuses of 1998 and 2010 (Raya Rey et al. 2014). Between 1987/88 and 2012/13, numbers at Marion Island decreased by about 52 per cent, from