An awkward and very nice walk: the penguin is, in the collective imagination, one of the funniest and loveliest animals on the face of the Earth. And yet, needless to say, they too are at risk of extinction.
Il April 25 is celebrated the World Penguin Day, a day that coincides with the annual northern migration of Adélie penguins and a good occasion to remind us that the increase in temperatures will inevitably lead (also) to a further reduction in living colonies.
There are 18 species but, of all, the best known is undoubtedly the emperor penguin, the only one that lives all year in the cold of Antarctica and that due to climate change is today among the most exposed to the risk of extinction.
Read also: These man-made igloos could save penguins from extinction (and also fight the melting of glaciers)
How much do you know about the emperor penguin? Here are 7 things you didn't know:
- since birth, the emperor penguin spends its entire life on the Antarctic ice or in the surrounding cold waters, where the temperature can reach -60 °. They are therefore protected by two layers of modified feathers and feathers, a good reserve of fat. Some specimens may "cross the border" and be seen off the coast of New Zealand
- among the penguins it is the largest: as soon as it is born, the little penguin weighs 150 grams and is about 15 centimeters tall, while as an adult it can reach 115 centimeters and weigh around 40 kilos. Compared to their ancestors, however, they are smaller: the researchers of the Museo de La Plata in Argentina, through the analysis of a 115 kilos and 2 meters high fossil recovered from the Antarctic peninsula, have discovered how an ancient bird similar to the penguin was higher than even most humans
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— IUCN Penguin SG (@IUCNPenguin) January 21, 2017
- he lives in crowded colonies: here he shares the struggle for survival with thousands of other individuals. Colonies of emperor penguins were identified and counted thanks to a 2012 survey conducted by scientists using satellite technologies. Since then it is estimated that the emperor penguin colonies in the Antarctic are about 54 and that there are approximately 595 adult emperor penguins
- it nests in the ice: it is in fact the only bird that reproduces and nests in the ice, in the Antarctic winter. Between May and June the female lays a single large egg, which she entrusts to the male before embarking on a journey of about two months for refreshment, hunting in the open sea.
- he's a very good dad! It is the dads who keep the newly laid eggs warm, balancing them on their feet and protecting them with a fold of the skin, known as a “brood pouch”. For two months of parental care, the males eat nothing and have to withstand the weather events of Antarctica. Only with the return of the mother, the brave father penguins abandon the brood and go in turn to look for food in the sea
- he doesn't fly but he is a real diver: emperor penguins don't know how to fly, but they are highly respected divers. The deepest recorded dive was 564 meters, while the longest recorded dive was approximately 28 minutes
- risks losing its habitat: the disappearance of glaciers and pack ice is seriously threatening the number of emperor penguins in some colonies. Global warming also has devastating effects on shoals of krill, the primary food source for penguins and every Antarctic species. In some areas, such as Pointe Géologie, the colony of emperor penguins has halved over the past 50 years, but a further 2 ° C increase in temperature is expected to lead to a new decrease in existing colonies by more than 50%.
Source: WWF
Read also:
- Antarctica: global warming melts snow and a penguin cemetery re-emerges
- The truth about the catastrophic disappearance of the emperor penguins in Antarctica
- The blood of San Gennaro does not melt, but the glaciers do ...
- Updated the Arctic Ocean map with lands that emerged from melting glaciers
- Antarctica: global warming melts snow and a penguin cemetery re-emerges
- Protecting the Oceans is the real vaccine for humanity and the Planet
