Introduction
An iconic part of the Falkland Islands, penguins have been both exploited and protected over the years since the first arrival of people. Nowadays they are fully protected by law and annually attract large numbers of scientists and tourists.
Louis de Bougainville, leader of the French settlers in 1764, deliberately fired Long Island in Berkeley Sound, killing ‘upwards of 200 penguins’, in the mistaken belief that he was destroying ‘useless herbage’. [Dom Pernety] Around the same time penguin eggs were being collected for food on Saunders Island.
From the late 18th Century penguins were boiled down in try pots for their oil. Ordinance No 2 of 1864 prohibited the destruction of penguins for their oil.
Marooned Captain, Charles Barnard, recorded collecting Macaroni penguin eggs on New Island from 3rd to 7th December 1812. He collected enough for four months which he knew was as long as they stayed good. Settlers continued to collect penguin eggs and by the early 20th century eggs were being collected in vast numbers for human consumption.
The Penguin Regulations No 189 of 1914 introduced licences to control egg collection and Ordinance No 9 of 1914, the Preservation of Penguins amending previous ordinances was passed.
Penguin egging - FIC Collection, JCNA
These files form part of the collection of Government Files held under Natural History - Penguins. NB: These files are mainly on penguins in the Falkland Islands. For penguins in the Dependencies see South Georgia - Fauna and Flora.
These files have not been uploaded in any particular order but represent those scanned to date for researchers.
NAT-PEN-1-2 AF Cobb. Jackass penguins Spheniscus magellanicus forwards specimens of skins of.pdf80.33 KB
NAT-PEN-1-8 Mr A Gordon applies to work penguin rookeries in Falkland Islands.pdf136.55 KB
NAT-PEN-1-9 Protection of Gentoo penguins at Mount Lowe and Sparrow Cove.pdf49.99 KB
NAT-PEN-1-10 Presence of King Penguins in Yorke Bay.pdf163.8 KB
NAT-PEN-1-11 Diminution of the Gentoo penguin.pdf327.23 KB
NAT-PEN-1-12 Mr CA Poingdestre HMS Durban requests permission to take four penguins for export.pdf76.18 KB
NAT-PEN-1-13 Penguin population of the Falkland Islands suggested census of.pdf2.33 MB
NAT-PEN-1-14 Messrs Simson and McConechy request information regarding penguin skins.pdf180.28 KB
NAT-PEN-1-15 Mr H Napier requests permission to kill Jackass penguins.pdf267.65 KB
NAT-PEN-1-17 Possibility of building up a trade in penguin eggs.pdf340.47 KB
NAT-PEN-1-18 A Pitaluga Requests permission to destroy Jackass Penguins on mainland of Salvador.pdf145.89 KB
NAT-PEN-1-19 R S Goddard Makes application to take penguins for zoological gardens at Surrey.pdf610.06 KB
NAT-PEN-1-20 Proposed ornithological expedition to the Falkland Islands.pdf187.1 KB
NAT-PEN-1-21 A H Carleton Makes application to take two penguins.pdf84.5 KB
NAT-PEN-1-22 Collection of specimens for Zoological Gardens London.pdf428.96 KB
NAT-PEN-1-24 Application for penguin egg licences.pdf1017.49 KB
NAT-PEN-1-25 Penguin eggs.pdf344 KB
NAT-PEN-1-26 Penguins preservation amendment ordinance 1949.pdf257.32 KB
NAT-PEN-1-27 Collection of birds for zoos. Miami Rare Bird Farm for American Zoos.pdf859.34 KB
NAT-PEN-1-28 Destruction of penguins.pdf973.6 KB
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While every effort has been taken to ensure accuracy the Jane Cameron National Archives does not accept responsibility for any errors or omissions in these records.
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