“While pretty much all other Antarctic WorldMags.net wildlife heads for milder climes, the
ENVIRONMENT
emperor penguins stick it out”
Life cycle of the emperor penguin Discover the incredible endurance of Earth’s biggest penguins and how they survive the bitter Antarctic While the northern hemisphere experiences winter between December and February, winter in the Antarctic takes place between June and August. One of the only creatures to endure the -30-degree-Celsius (-22-degree-Fahrenheit) temperatures and 160-kilometre (100-mile)-perhour winds of Antarctica’s harsh winters is the emperor penguin. The stalwart males in particular spend the entire winter in the unforgiving landscape of the frozen continent’s exposed open ice. While pretty much all other Antarctic wildlife heads for milder climes, the emperor penguins stick it out. The reason they do this is so that the new chicks will be fully fledged in midsummer when survival rates are much higher. It’s a treacherous 12 months in the life of an emperor penguin, but their resilience and dedication to caring for a single precious egg for months on end is simply extraordinary.
The statistics… Emperor penguin Type: Bird Genus: Aptenodytes Diet: Carnivore, eg fish, squid Average life span in the wild: 15-20 years Height: Up to 130cm (51in) Weight: 25-45kg (55-100lb)
It’s cold out there… Home to the lowest temperature ever recorded at the Earth’s surface, Antarctica can get seriously chilly during winter Jan Average monthly temperatures in °C
The emperor penguin is the tallest and heaviest of all living penguin species and is endemic to Antarctica
Feb
Mar Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov Dec
0 -5 -10 -15 -20 -25 -30
042 | How It Works
WWW.HOWITWORKSDAILY.COM
WorldMags.net
