For these reasons, the species is evaluated as Least Concern.
The population range and size do not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable criteria (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km 2 and <10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline). Several sites without active conservation measures have experienced a severe decrease in population size, while many former breeding colonies no longer exist. Sites with small populations are more vulnerable with reported local extinctions. For the remaining sites, 28% have between 1 individuals and only 3% of sites have a population size above 5,000 individuals. Although the species has a large estimated extent of occurrence, about 69% of sites have fewer than 100 breeding individuals. Little penguins along the South Island’s West Coast, Banks Peninsula seem to be decreasing over the past decades while penguin numbers around Oamaru are stable if not increasing. In New Zealand, the situation of the species remains unclear due to inconsistent monitoring efforts over large parts of the country. Populations are stable in WA and increasing in Victoria. In Australia, there is a decrease in the population size in New South Wales and South Australia while Tasmania is data deficient. The stable trend should be taken cautiously as 60% of the sites have an “unknown” population trends due to data deficiency. Increasing ocean temperature and strong winds are linked to negative effects on adult foraging and chick survival. The population trend is stable overall with localised decreases in population size, usually driven by human disturbance and climatic variability. The global population size has been quantified and estimated as under 500,000 breeding adults.
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