Penguins always manage to put a smile on a person's face and everyone has a dream of seeing a penguin at least once. Let's hope that everyone gets to do so.
World Penguin Day is a celebratory and educative initiative on April 25, that encourages people to learn more about penguins and their environment, how important they are to our ecosystems and the threats that they face.
Lesser known facts about penguins:
Penguins are flightless birds.
While other birds have wings for flying, penguins have adapted flippers to help them swim in the water.
Most penguins live in the Southern Hemisphere.
The Galapagos Penguin is the only penguin species that ventures north of the equator in the wild.
Large penguin populations can be found in countries such as New Zealand, Australia, Chile, Argentina and South Africa.
No penguins live at the North Pole.
Penguins eat a range of fish and other sea life that they catch underwater.
Penguins can drink sea water.
Penguins spend around half their time in water and the other half on land.
The Emperor Penguin is the tallest of all penguin species reaching as tall as 120 cm in height.
Emperor penguins can stay underwater for around 20 minutes at a time.
Emperor Penguins often huddle together to keep warm in the cold temperatures of Antarctica.
King Penguins are the second largest penguin species. They have four layers of feathers to help keep them warm on the cold subantarctic islands where they breed.
Chinstrap Penguins get their name from the thin black band under their head. At times it looks like they're wearing a black helmet which might be useful as they're considered the most aggressive type of penguin.
Crested penguins have yellow crests, as well as red bills and eyes.
