How much do you know about Penguins? Here some facts:
- Penguins can spend up to 75% of their lives in the water.
- Their prey can be found within 60 feet of the surface, so penguins have no need to swim in deep water
- Penguins closer to the equator eat more fish and penguins closer to Antarctica eat more squid and krill
- The species with the lowest population is the endangered Galapagos penguin with between 6,000-15,000 individuals. Macaroni penguins are 11,654,000 pairs.
- Mating Season is during spring or summer
- Incubation Varies from 1 month-66 days depending on the species
- The average life expectancy of penguins is probably 15 to 20 years but some individuals live longer
- Penguins can be found on every continent in the Southern Hemisphere from the tropical Galapagos Islands
- Little penguins rely on burrows and a nocturnal lifestyle to avoid predators such as swamp harriers, peregrines, gulls, snakes, rats, and lizards
- Mass exploitation occurred when early explorers and fishermen turned to penguin colonies as sources of fresh meat and eggs. Sometimes more than 300,000 eggs were taken in annual harvests from one African island. Penguins were easy prey because of their inability to fly and their seeming lack of fear of humans
- Although egg-collecting was banned in 1969, illegal harvesting continues today
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