The Falkland Islands are not just famous for the 1982 conflict. Hundreds of thousands of penguins – including one of the world's most northerly colonies of King penguins – live on the archipelago.
At Volunteer Point, in the north-east of East Falkland, there are currently about 850 breeding pairs of Kings. UK-registered charity Falklands Conservation counted 533 chicks in February 2007, which signalled an "amazingly" good year for the colony.
The King population, which was once hunted for oil, was virtually wiped out by the late 1800s, but they started to reappear in the 1930s and have been steadily growing in number since.
The Kings and other species are a valuable asset to the Falklands, not least because they attract wildlife enthusiasts and cruise ship day trippers to the islands. Visitors are asked to keep their distance from the birds, and wardens usually keep watch.
Volunteer Point – which is part of a privately-owned farm – is also home to some interesting plants. On the sand dunes penguins waddle among silvery sea cabbage on their way to the rookery.
Some 3,000 people have so far signed up to adopt a Falklands penguin, to help fund conservation work on the islands, which also aims to protect other wildlife such as the threatened black-browed albatross.
