2009 was a good year for this species as it was upgraded to a status of least concern from near threatened, by the IUCN. This downgrade was due to a clearer picture and more accurate censuses. Overall population trends show that in the 1980s there were 38,000 pairs which dropped to 31,000 in the late 1990s followed by 46,800 presently. The Falkland Islands and most of the South Georgia Archipelago have shown increases from the 1980s to the present. Terre Adélie has shown a drastic reduction as the count fell to 10—15 pairs from 80 pairs in the 1980s. The official generation trend is listed by BirdLife International at a 1%—9% decline, but it is stated that this is a conservative number. They elaborate that a best case scenario puts it at a 17% increase and a worst-case scenario of a 7.2% reduction.