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This island was home to the planet’s largest penguin colony. Here’s why it just lost that title - CP24

·Oct 7, 2026

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Photo credit : Chinstrap and macaroni penguins nesting on the volcanic slopes of Zavodovski Island (Nicole Richters / British Antarctic Survey)

Published: October 07, 2026 at 8:39p.m. EDTAn uninhabited volcanic island in the Southern Ocean used to be home to the largest penguin colony in the world — but not anymore. Scientists have discovered the staggering loss of more than half a million chinstrap penguins from the isolated outcrop. Chinstrap penguins, named for the narrow band of black feathers under their chins, thrive in harsh locations and Zavodovski Island fits the bill perfectly. Part of the South Sandwich Islands archipelago north of Antarctica, the island is wild, craggy and windswept. Zavodovski is home to both chinstraps and macaroni penguins, which have distinctive yellow feather plumes on their heads. In 2011, it was named the largest penguin colony in the world, but when British Antarctic Survey researchers travelled to the island in 2023, they found the chinstraps had suffered huge declines. CNN Penguin colony A penguin colony on Zavodovski Island. (Credit: John Dickens via CNN Newsource) More than half a million have been lost since 2011, representing a quarter of the island’s penguins, according to the the findings published Wednesday in the journal Current Biology.

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