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King Penguins in Ushuaia?

The king penguin is the second largest of the 18 species of penguins that exist in the world, weighing between 12 and 16 kg and measuring around 90 cm. They are pelagic in habits, and only go ashore during the reproductive season. The king penguin reaches sexual maturity between 3 and 6 years of life and its reproductive cycle lasts between 14 and 15 months, from courtship to the end of breeding. They reproduce every two or three years, they place a single egg that they incubate on their legs, both parents share the upbringing.

It is a migratory bird that moves in search of food, from its breeding areas in sub-Antarctic islands, Malvinas, islands of the States, to the Antarctic circumpolar waters. Since 2010, a small colony has been established in Bahía Inutil, on the Chilean side of Isla Grande. They tend to be occasional visitors, although more and more frequent from Cabo de Hornos and Tierra del Fuego. Outside the breeding season, they disperse in the southern circumpolar zone and the Argentine sea, and can reach the north of Buenos Aires.

Hundreds of years ago, the king penguin shared with the native peoples that inhabited the island of Tierra del Fuego, a link revealed by the discovery of skeletal remains of this species in Selk’nam occupation areas. Unfortunately, in the second half of the 19th century, their colonies were slaughtered for oil and eggs, leading to extinction in some of their breeding sites. Fortunately, their populations are currently recovering.

The king penguin is the second largest of the 18 species of penguins that exist in the world, it is an occasional visitor to Martillo Island (Ushuaia).

King Penguins in Ushuaia: General facts and location

The King Penguin is distributed by the circumpolar regions in the Antarctic continent, where the zones of the westerly winds are. It nests in the Useless Bay on the Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, in Chile2 3 4 5 6 7 and on the islands near South America (such as the Malvinas and South Georgia), Africa (Islas Prince Edward and Crozet Islands) and Oceania (Kerguelen Islands and Macquarie Island).

The upper part of its chest, at the level of the throat, is yellowish orange, bordered by a black line, with a gray upholstered back, which goes down to the tail. Its belly is whitish, and its head is black and armed with a long, pointed and partially orange beak. Its legs are adapted for swimming in water.

The young are covered in a very soft brown down, which has the appearance of hair. They live up to twenty years in a natural state. They feed on krill, small fish, etc.

Book the Beagle Channel Navigation to see Penguins and visit Harberton Ranch

Click on the image below and book wonderful boat navigation from Ushuaia to enjoy the colony of penguins in Martillo Island and a typical ranch in Estancia Harberton!