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Here at National Geographic Kids, we love wonderful wild bears! Join us as we learn about one of nature's cutest critters in our facts about pandas!
Facts about pandas

1. Giant pandas (often referred to as simply "pandas") are black and white bears. In the wild, they are found in thick bamboo forests, high up in the mountains of central China - you can check out our cool facts about China, here!

2. These magnificent mammals are omnivores. But whilst pandas will occasionally eat small animals and fish, bamboo counts for 99 percent of their diet.

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3. Pandas are BIG eaters - every day they fill their tummies for up to 12 hours, shifting up to 12 kilograms of bamboo!

4. The giant panda's scientific name is Ailuropoda melanoleuca, which means "black and white cat-foot".

5. Giant pandas grow to between 1.2m and 1.5m, and weigh between 75kg and 135kg. Scientists aren't sure how long pandas live in the wild, but in captivity they live to be around 30 years old.

6. Baby pandas are born pink and measure about 15cm - that's about the size of a pencil! They are also born blind and only open their eyes six to eight weeks after birth.

7. It's thought that these magnificent mammals are solitary animals, with males and females only coming together briefly to mate. Recent research, however, suggests that giant pandas occasionally meet outside of breeding season, and communicate with each other through scent marks and calls.

Did you know that we have a FREE downloadable panda primary resource? Great for teachers, homeschoolers and parents alike!

8. Family time! Female pandas give birth to one or two cubs every two years. Cubs stay with their mothers for 18 months before venturing off on their own!

9. Unlike most other bears, pandas do not hibernate. When winter approaches, they head lower down their mountain homes to warmer temperatures, where they continue to chomp away on bamboo!

10. Excitingly, conservation efforts mean that panda bear numbers are increasing in the wild. Though there's still lots of work to be done, the species is no longer considered endangered. Hooray!

Love reading about brilliant bears? Then check out our ten black bear facts, here!

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10 facts about pandas! - National Geographic Kids

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Here at National Geographic Kids, we love wonderful wild bears! Join us as we learn about one of nature's cutest critters in our facts about pandas! 1. Giant pandas (often referred to as simply "pandas") are black and white bears.

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Get Giant Panda facts and pictures from National Geographic Kids

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Working together with Chinese panda experts may help increase the number of giant pandas and ensure the future survival of the giant panda population. A giant panda milk formula created by the Zoo's nutritionist, and a hand-rearing technique developed by the Chinese called "twin swapping," have transformed the survival rate of nursery-reared panda cubs in China from 0 to 95 percent.

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Polar Bears for Kids: Learn about these giant white animals.

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Kids learn about polar bears, the largest carnivore on land. They like to swim and enjoy the cold.

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Explore the wild world of animals. Discover opportunities to care and conserve. Connect through our camps, courses, and careers at SeaWorld and Busch Gardens.

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Our Mission - Through education, research and rescue, Dolphin Research Center promotes peaceful coexistence, cooperation and communication between marine mammals, humans and the environment we share with the well being of DRC's animals taking precedence.

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Kids Manatee Facts - Dolphin Research Center

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Kids can learn about manatees, dolphins, sea lions, and marine mammals. Dolphin camp, riddles, puzzles and dolphin facts.

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F LORIDA (WEST INDIAN) MANATEE

Although their bulbous, whiskery face makes this hard to believe today, manatees are probably the source of legends about mermaids. Their humanlike eyes must have captivated the early European sailors who caught fleeting glimpses of them swimming in the warm waters of the West Indies.

In the 17th century, mermaids were depicted with their male companions, mermen. Although the legends of these half-fish, half-human creatures have lived on for hundreds of years and are still popular today, it is uncertain whether the manatees that inspired the legends will live on much longer.

Only a concerted effort to protect them in their marine habitat will save manatees from extinction.

Manatees inhabit warm waters of the Western Atlantic from Florida to Brazil where they live in coastal waters, freshwater inlets, and river mouths.

Warm Florida waters have provided wintering refuges for manatees in natural warm water springs. They also are attracted to the warm water outflow from power plants, where on occasion a manatee has gotten stuck and rescue efforts have made the evening news.

Although their range is quite large, manatees today exist only in a few small, isolated populations. They once were widespread in rivers and along coasts in their range, but they were hunted extensively in the 18th and 19th centuries. Coastal development has further reduced their populations. Today, there are less than 2,000 manatees remaining in the United States.

The manatee is a large, bulky aquatic mammal with flippered forelimbs and a spatula-shaped tail. Manatees can grow to 12 feet in length and weigh up to 3500 pounds. They may live to be 50 years old.

The manatee diet consists entirely of vegetation, consuming at a rate of 100 pounds a day. They eat by using their divided upper lip, which is very flexible, to grasp and take in aquatic plants. Like other air-breathing marine mammals (dolphins, whales, and seals), manatees must periodically surface for air.

Females reach sexual maturity between five and nine years of age, but they do not produce many offspring; more animals are killed each year than are born. Mothers are strongly bonded to their calves, but other social ties among manatees are very loose. They are extremely gentle and have been described as incapable of aggression.

Manatees are one of four living species in the Order Sirenia, which also includes the West African manatee, the Amazonian manatee, and the dugong. Another sirenian, the Steller's sea cow , became extinct in the 1700s. The sirenians evolved from an ancestor they share with the elephant, their closest living land relative.

Causes of Endangerment

The manatee has no known predators other than humans. In the past, humans hunted manatees extensively for their meat, fat, and tough hides. In some parts of the Caribbean and South America, manatees are still hunted for food.

Powerboats are now the greatest threat to manatees. Manatees are slow, near-surface swimmers, and the number of collisions with motorboats is increasing at an alarming rate.

In 1990, 218 manatees, which comprised 12 percent of the United States' manatee population, were killed in boating accidents, and many more were injured. A recent project to capture, tag, and release manatees revealed that many bore the scars of encounters with speed boats.

Residential and commercial development along rivers and waterways has also affected the manatee population. Habitat destruction has damaged the estuarine seagrass communities on which manatees depend. In addition, chemical pollution has impaired the immune systems of marine mammals, and the manatees may have become more vulnerable to infection as a result.

Recent mass deaths among marine mammals have been traced to greater disease vulnerability due to chemical pollution. In 1988, over 10,000 harbor seals died in Denmark and Sweden from a virus related to canine distemper. PCB's (polychlorinated biphenyl) in the water contaminate the fish that the seals eat. The PCB's accumulate in the seals and make them more susceptible diseases.

Other pollution-related mass deaths have occurred recently in bottle-nosed dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico (1988) and striped dolphins in the Mediterranean Sea (1991).

Sadly, manatees seem to be experiencing an epidemic too. Since the beginning of 1996, more than 250 manatees have been found dead in southwestern Florida. With their population already severely reduced due to other causes, a single epidemic such as this could push the manatee beyond the point of no return, into an extinction vortex.

The spread of the disease may have been facilitated by the gathering of manatees at the warm-water outflows of power plants.

Conservation Actions

Manatees have been protected for an unusually long time. The English declared Florida a manatee sanctuary in the 1700s and hunting manatees was prohibited. Sanctuary from hunters has not protected the manatee from speed boats, however. Speed limits in waterways can help manatees by giving them enough time to avoid collisions and reducing the severity of collisions when they do occur.

Manatees spend hours grazing underwater everyday, and they can be very exciting to watch in their natural habitat. Manatee-watching tourism gives local people a financial incentive to preserve the species, since tourists spend their dollars at local businesses. Tourists may be inspired to do something to help these beautiful and mysterious creatures.

In Belize, manatee-watching tourism has been a very successful conservation action. Not long ago, local people hunted manatees with rifles, while today manatees are a big attraction for tourist dollars. Unfortunately, the boats that take passengers out to view the manatees have become an increasing threat. Collisions with motor boats are becoming more common and are an increasing cause of manatee mortality in Belize.

More scientific research is needed to understand manatees and their needs. One current study is tracking manatees by satellite to learn more about where they go and what they do. We need to know more about their calving and feeding behaviors.

Citizens are helping to preserve manatees through the Save the Manatee Club, an organization co-founded by singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffet. Citizen involvement also has been an important factor in tracking the recent wave of manatee deaths in Florida. Reports from concerned people are helping scientists study and understand the causes and effects of the epidemic.

Questions For Thought

Tourists travel to Belize and pay money to see manatees feed in their natural habitat. Tourists also come to see manatees displayed in marine parks such as Sea World. What different impacts do these two types of tourism have on manatee protection?

The avoidance if boating accidents is one of the most important precautions for manatee survival. What kind of a program would you design to educate boaters about manatees?
Activities: [CS1-1,CS1-8, C3-2, General]
Words in bold italics can be found in the .

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F LORIDA (WEST INDIAN) MANATEE Although their bulbous, whiskery face makes this hard to believe today, manatees are probably the source of legends about mermaids. Their humanlike eyes must have captivated the early European sailors who caught fleeting glimpses of them swimming in the warm waters of the West Indies.

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Giraffe: Learn all about the tallest animal on earth.

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Giraffes are the world's tallest animals. Learn about this protected species found in Africa.

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At an average height of around 5 m (16-18 ft.), the giraffe is the tallest land animal in the world.

Characterized by its long legs, long neck, and distinctive spotted pattern, many people first believed the giraffe was a cross between a leopard and a camel, which is reflected in its scientific name, Giraffa camelopardalis.

Giraffes live primarily in savanna areas in the sub-Saharan region of Africa. Their extreme height allows them to eat leaves and shoots located much higher than other animals can reach. In particular, they seek out acacia trees. Their long tongues are helpful in eating because they help pull leaves from the trees. Spending most of the day eating, a full-grown giraffe consumes over 45 kg (100 lb.) of leaves and twigs a day.

The male giraffe is both taller and heavier than the female. Both sexes have skin-covered knobs, called ossicones, on the top of their heads. Female ossicones are smaller and have a small tuft of fur on top, while male ossicones are bald on the top. These knobs are used to protect the head when males fight, which involves swinging their necks at each other in a show of strength called "necking."

When giraffes walk, they move both legs on one side of their body and then both legs on the other side; this is unique to giraffes. However, they run in a similar style to other mammals, swinging their rear legs and front legs in unison. They can reach 55 km/h (35 mph) at full speed but only in brief spurts.

Giraffes sleep less than two hours a day. In general, they sleep with their feet tucked under them and their head resting on their hindquarters, but they can also sleep for short periods of time standing up.

Female giraffes can become pregnant at 5 years old. They carry a baby for 15 months and give birth while standing up. Newborns are about 2 m (6 ft.) tall and weigh 70 kg (150 lb.).

They live up to 25 years in the wild.

Conservation Status

Giraffes are classified by IUCN's Red List as vulnerable of extinction. After researchers surveyed the population in trucks, by foot, by aircraft, and by remote cameras, they confirmed the number of giraffes has plummeted 40% since 1985. With some subspecies, such as the reticulated giraffe, the situation is even more dire, with their population declining by nearly 80%.

Giraffes face several threats, including loss of habitat due to logging for firewood. They are also hunted for their meat, hides, and tails, which are valued by many African tribes.

What You Can Do to Help

To help preserve giraffe populations, boycott products made with giraffe body parts and encourage others to do the same.

Giraffe Distribution

Giraffe Resources

Blog Posts about the Giraffe

Featured Quiz: African Animals - May 15, 2018

PHOTOS: Baby Animals from Taronga Western Plains Zoo - August 30, 2017

Seeing Double: Two Baby Giraffes Born at Taronga Western Plains Zoo - August 24, 2017

Giraffes Now Vulnerable of Extinction - December 7, 2016

Did You Eat Your Dirt Today? - October 18, 2015

Scientists Finally Discover What Sound the Giraffe Makes - September 18, 2015

VIDEO: Baby Giraffe's Boisterous Debut - May 4, 2015

Featured Animal: Giraffe - August 1, 2014

Memphis Zoo Announces Baby Giraffe - May 23, 2014

Baby Giraffes at Busch Gardens - May 8, 2014

Year in Review: Baby Animals of 2013 - December 23, 2013

Giraffe Calf at Nashville Zoo - December 17, 2013

Masai Giraffe Calf at Toronto Zoo - November 15, 2013

Baby Masai Giraffe at Toronto Zoo - October 18, 2013

Baby Giraffe Cam! - August 18, 2013

Tallest Baby in Seattle Born - August 9, 2013

Giraffe born at Taronga Western Plains Zoo - July 10, 2013

Baby Giraffe at Busch Gardens - February 3, 2012

Baby Giraffe at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay - December 29, 2011

Animal Dress-up - October 6, 2010

Two Baby Giraffes Join Tampa Bay Herd - July 15, 2010

Baby Giraffe at the Memphis Zoo - January 31, 2010

Giraffe Born at Niabi Zoo - December 29, 2009

Study Reveals How Giraffes Maintain Long Necks - November 23, 2009

San Francisco Zoo Welcomes Another Giraffe Calf - April 3, 2009

Newborn Giraffe at Providence Zoo - December 29, 2008

About the Author

P.A. Smith is a middle school Language Arts teacher. He is also a contributing editor of My House Rabbit.

Last updated on December 7, 2016.

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At an average height of around 5 m (16-18 ft.), the giraffe is the tallest land animal in the world. Characterized by its long legs, long neck, and distinctive spotted pattern, many people first believed the giraffe was a cross between a leopard and a camel, which is reflected in its scientific name, Giraffa camelopardalis.

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Find out what makes bobcats such fiercely cool felines.

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The Bobcat. The Animals of British Columbia, Canada - BC Bobcats

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The Bobcat. A Wildlife Viewing Guide to Bobcats in British Columbia, Canada

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Learn why there's more to the peacock than its famous tail. Find out why, for this social species, the "party" never stops.

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Peafowl (Peacock and Peahen) Printout- EnchantedLearning.com

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Peafowl (Peacock and Peahen) Printout: The Peafowl (Peacock and Peahen) is a beautiful bird from India.

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'Rabbits' - Species in the family leporidae | Arkive

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The Sumatran rabbit is thought to be the rarest species of all lagomorphs (rabbits, hares and pikas)...

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please support our dream of no more unwanted rabbits

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Wildscreen's Arkive project was launched in 2003 and grew to become the world's biggest encyclopaedia of life on Earth.

With the help of over 7,000 of the world's best wildlife filmmakers and photographers, conservationists and scientists, Arkive.org featured multi-media fact-files for more than 16,000 endangered species.

Freely accessible to everyone, over half a million people every month, from over 200 countries, used Arkive to learn and discover the wonders of the natural world.

Since 2013 Wildscreen was unable to raise sufficient funds from trusts, foundations, corporates and individual donors to support the year-round costs of keeping Arkive online. Therefore, the charity had been using its reserves to keep the project online and was unable to fund any dedicated staff to maintain Arkive, let alone future-proof it, for over half a decade. Despite appeals for support, just 85 of our 5.6 million users in 2018 made a donation.

As a small conservation charity, Wildscreen eventually reached the point where it could no longer financially sustain the ongoing costs of keeping Arkive free and online or invest in its much needed development.

For many years, and in an attempt to keep Arkive online for years to come, Wildscreen investigated the possibility of transferring custodianship of the website to another environmental charity or institution but due to legal issues and the cost of doing so, we were unable to secure any support.

Therefore, a very hard decision was made to take the www.arkive.org website offline in February 2019.

The complete Arkive collection of over 100,000 images and videos is now being stored securely offline in perpetuity for future generations.

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Wildscreen's Arkive project was launched in 2003 and grew to become the world's biggest encyclopaedia of life on Earth. With the help of over 7,000 of the world's best wildlife filmmakers and photographers, conservationists and scientists, Arkive.org featured multi-media fact-files for more than 16,000 endangered species.

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Come eye-to-eye with the king cobra, the longest venomous snake in the world. Learn why it is the reptile of choice for exotic snake charmers.

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Rattlesnake Printout. Rattlesnakes are poisonous snakes with a rattle on the tail. The rattle buzzes before the snake attacks.

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Travel to the jungles and grassy marshes of Southeast Asia to see this beautifully patterned, generally docile reptile, one of the largest snake species on Earth.

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Discover the ways that koalas sleep away their days and nights. Learn how they subsist on a diet of poisonous leaves.

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Koalas for Kids | Australian Koala Foundation

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Koalas are disappearing. Loss of koala habitat and koala food trees (eucalyptus leaves) is the leading koala threat. Our cuddly koalas are loved around the world. Often called a koala bear, they are actually marsupials not koala bears. Please help koalas by supporting the Australian Koala Foundation.

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The Koala is a marsupial that lives in trees.

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The most common wildcat in North America, the bobcat is named for its short, bobbed tail. They are medium-sized cats and are slightly smaller but similar in appearance to their cousin, the lynx. Their coats vary in color from shades of beige to brown fur with spotted or lined markings in dark brown or black.

Diet

Bobcats mainly hunt rabbits and hares.

Bobcats are also known to eat rodents, birds, bats and even
adult deer, which they usually consume during the winter months, as well as lambs, poultry and young pigs when a ranch is near.

Population

Approximately 725,000 to 1,020,000 bobcats remain in the wild.

Range

Bobcats were once found throughout most of North America from northern Mexico to southern Canada. In the early to mid 1900s, bobcat populations in many Midwestern and eastern states of the United States were decimated due to the increased value of its fur. However, international laws began to protect the world's spotted cats in the 1970s, and populations have rebounded since then. Today, populations are stable in many northern states and are reviving in many others.

Behavior

Bobcat habitat varies widely from forests and mountainous areas to semi- deserts and brush land. A habitat dense with vegetation and lots of prey is ideal. Bobcats are excellent hunters, stalking prey with stealth and patience, then capturing their meals with one great leap.

Usually solitary and territorial animals, females never share territory with each other. Male territories, however, tend to overlap. Territories are established with scent markings and territory sizes are extremely varied - generally 25-30 square miles for males and about five square miles for females.

Dens: Each bobcat may have several dens, one main den and several auxiliary dens, in its territory.

Main den: Usually a cave or rock shelter, but can be a hollow log, fallen tree, or some other protected place. (Also called the natal den)

Auxiliary dens: Located in less-visited portions of the home range and are often brush piles, rock ledges or stumps. These are also called shelter dens.

Reproduction
Mating season: Late winter, but throughout the year is possible.
Gestation: 50- 70 days. Kittens are usually born around early spring.
Litter size: 1 - 6 kittens.
The kittens begin eating solid food at around two months and begin learning to hunt at 5 months. When they are between 8 and 11 months, the kittens are evicted from their mother's territory.

Threats

In Mexico, bobcats are persecuted as sheep predators and are frequently killed by farmers. They are still hunted and trapped for their fur throughout most of their range. Habitat destruction and the ever-expanding human population limit their ranges.

What Defenders Is Doing to Help

Starting in 2004, Defenders has partnered with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Fish and Wildlife to track, capture, and collar bobcats in the State of New Jersey in order to determine their movements and which habitats are important to their survival. This valuable data will help biologists create a protection and management strategy that focuses on preserving the most critical bobcat habitat.

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The most common wildcat in North America, the bobcat is named for its short, bobbed tail. They are medium-sized cats and are slightly smaller but similar in appearance to their cousin, the lynx. Their coats vary in color from shades of beige to brown fur with spotted or lined markings in dark brown or black.

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Emperor penguins are one of the "classic" penguin species that people imagine when they hear the name. Along with King Penguins andAdelie penguins, they are representative of the whole group.

Emperor Penguin Basics

Average Weight: 30kg - 66lb

Average Height: 115cm - 3.8ft

Breeding Season: April - December - Emperors breed in the depth of the Antarctic winter. The average temperature is around -20°C (-4°F) falling as low as -50°C (- 58°F) and with winds that gust up to 200km per hour (124mph).

Reproduction: Emperor Penguins breed almost exclusively on sea-ice near to the coast of Antarctica, rarely on land, the breeding colonies can be up to 200 km from the open sea.

Estimated world population: - 595,000, stable.

Feeding & diet: Eat mainly fish in Antarctica, also krill and squid which can be more important in some places.

Conservation status: Near threatened..

Distribution: Circumpolar, breed right up against the continent.Leopard seals and killer whales- main predators of adult birds. Skuas - prey on eggs and chicks.
Emperor penguin adaptations

What are Emperor penguins like?

Emperor penguins have the upright and regal bearing that their name suggests. They take the dinner-jacketed formality of all penguins to its highest level and though they are able to be as awkward, gawky and get as dirty as other penguins, when they shake it all off and stand up to regain their dignity, there are few if any more stately and elegant animals on earth.

Emperor penguins are the largest of penguin species with an average weight of around 30kg (66lb) but can be up to 40kg (88lb) and a height of approx. 1.15m (3.8ft).

They have colourful feathers around their necks and heads, though are not quite as bright as king penguins which are almost as large. There is little or no possibility of confusing the two species however as their distribution around Antarctica is very different. While king penguins are a sub-Antarctic species, being based on islands dotted around the continent, emperor penguins are animals of the deep south. They are never found together.

Emperor penguins have yellow ear patches that are "open" fading into the white of the breast feathers, whereas king penguins have orange ear patches that are "closed" by a band of black feathers. Emperor penguin chicks have distinctive plumage with a large white face patch.

Where do Emperor penguins live?

All but 3 of about 40 known emperor penguin colonies are on winter fast ice that is frozen solid and attached to the land from autumn until it begins to break up in the spring (though some years it doesn't break up at all). They are found all around the coasts of the Antarctic continent. They breed during the depths of the Antarctic winter and in some of the most desolate, coldest, windiest and downright grim places on the planet during the season of 24 hour darkness. Some emperor penguins are the only birds that never set foot on land.

The first breeding colony wasn't discovered until 1902 by Lt. Reginald Skelton on Scott's 1901-04 Discovery Expedition some 130 years after the birds had first been seen on Captain Cook's second voyage. New colonies were still being discovered as late as 2009. Nowadays satellite imagery is used to find breeding emperor penguin colonies in remote regions.

Early in the 20th century, Emperor penguins were thought to be some kind of evolutionary "missing link", something that scientists thought could be proven by observing the growth of the embryo at various stages. On Scott's 1910-1913 Terra Nova expedition a small group of expeditioners set out on a winter sledging journey led by Wilson, the biologist and including the young Apsley Cherry-Garrard, famously this gave rise to the acknowledged greatest of all Antarctic adventure and travel books " The Worst Journey in the World".

Emperor penguin diving adaptations

Emperor penguins feed on fish, krill and squid which they catch on dives that are longer and deeper than any other penguin or bird species. They can dive to a depth of 1,800 feet (550 meters) and hold their breath for up to 22 minutes. This allows them to reach and exploit food resources that other birds can't reach.

The diving adaptations and abilities of emperor penguins have been widely studied, they have been found to have:

1/ an increased ability to store oxygen in the body
2/ the ability to tolerate low levels of oxygen in the body
3/ the ability to tolerate the effects of pressure.

Emperor penguins tolerate low levels of oxygen during dives that would cause a human to pass out and they experience pressures so great that we would get the bends. Neither of these things seem to adversely affect penguins. Their diving physiology is studied at McMurdo Station at a place called penguin ranch 15 miles out in the sea ice where there is only a single hole in the ice, so the penguins must return there to leave the sea.

A penguin's normal resting heart-beat is about 60-70 beats per minute (bpm), this goes up to 180-200 bpm before a dive as they load up with oxygen, then as they hit the water, the rate drops to 100 bpm immediately slowing to only 20 bpm during most of the dive so they use the stored oxygen in blood and muscles to the maximum effect. On returning to the surface again, the heart rate goes back to 200 bpm probably to pay back the "oxygen debt" they have incurred during the dive.

What is unusual about the Emperor Penguins breeding cycle?

Emperor penguins breed almost exclusively on sea ice and so are perhaps the only species of bird that never sets foot on land.

They begin their breeding cycle when other Antarctic penguins have finished theirs, at the end of April to May. Other smaller penguins at this time head north away from the encroaching winter while the Emperors head south into it. They seem to choose very dramatic sites, a large flat area where they can waddle when carrying their egg or chick on their feet surrounded by high ice cliffs or icebergs that help to give a little shelter from the winds.

Eggs are laid in May and June, they are the smallest egg relative to body size of any bird, being around 0.4kg (1.1lb) just under 1.5% of the mass of an adult bird.

At this point, the males take charge of the egg. No nest is built and the egg is incubated on the feet of the parents, a special fold of abdominal skin covers the egg to keep it warm. The mother penguins then set off back to sea and do not return for nearly four months.

The male Emperors with their valuable eggs sit huddled together on the ice throughout the dark weeks and months of the Antarctic night. The average temperature is around -20°C (-4°F) going down to -50°C (- 58°F) and with winds that gust up to 200km per hour (124mph). The males do not eat at all throughout this time, but just sit and wait and protect their egg, (later the chick) until their mate comes back to relieve them.

Very few people have seen an emperor penguin huddle in the winter in a savage place where ice and cold are king and the penguins spend their days in silence. The only events are changing position in the huddle (see below) and the immense spectacle of the ghostly red, violet and green of the southern lights or Aurora Australis playing in the dark skies above their heads.

Brooding young hatchlings

Returning from a fishing dive

Males can be sat incubating and waiting for over 120 days (average 115), during this time they will lose about 40% of their body weight. They use less energy when asleep which they do so as long as possible, it is not unusual for emperor penguins to sleep for 20 or more hours a day under these conditions - even up to 24 hours a day, to conserve their food supplies and increase their and their chick's chances of survival.

They survive by huddling together for warmth, very unusual behaviour for adults of other penguin species which are usually aggressively territorial. They also take it in turns to occupy the coldest most exposed outside positions. Without this huddling behaviour, they would unable to endure the combined conditions of fasting, bitter cold and hurricane force winds and would not be able to live and breed in the way they do. Even though they are close together during these huddles, they have been recently shown to be not quite touching. if they touched and squashed the puffed out feathers down it would reduce the insulating value and make them colder, so they really fine-tune the process.

It's not all altruistic behaviour though, and taking it in turns. The ones that have been on the outside on the windward side wander off to the leeward side when they've had enough so exposing the next "layer" of penguins. The whole huddle can wander over quite an area in this way in very cold and/or windy conditions.

How do the parents ensure that the chick survives when born on the open sea ice?

As the chicks grow older and get larger, they become able to regulate their own temperature in milder conditions, so they don't need the protection of the brood patch. They form creches and will huddle as the parents do if the weather worsens.

Eventually, the female returns across the sea ice. This usually coincides with the hatching of the chick. Sometimes the chick will hatch before the female returns, if this happens, it will be fed with a secretion of protein and fat produced by the male from its oesophagus a sort of penguin "milk".

The pair locate each other by calling repeatedly, eventually recognizing each others voice, and the male passes the chick over (sometimes reluctantly and after much persuasion) onto the feet of the female. A chick left alone on the ice at this time has a survival time of only around two minutes. The males are then able to go off to sea to feed and build up their strength and fitness again. This journey alone can take several days across the ice. Emperor penguins have been known to walk 280km to reach the sea.

At this point, the chick is reared in the conventional penguin manner, with the parents taking it in turns to feed and look after the chick until they are large enough to leave.

When they are older and larger, the chicks huddle together in creches for warmth and protection while both parents are able to go off to collect food at the same time to provide for the ever increasing needs of the growing chick.

Chick survival has a lot to do with how the ice breaks up and so how easy it is for parents to reach the sea. If the parents have to travel long distances, many chicks will die of starvation. If the ice edge remains close, then the parents will be able to provide more food and the chicks stand a better chance of survival.

The colonies begin to disperse as the sea ice begins to break up in December and January, the chicks are then able to fend for themselves leaving the adults to moult their feathers (a time when they need to stay out of the water) and so are not able to feed.

Why do emperor penguins breed in such severe conditions?

Despite the way it seems, this breeding strategy of the emperor penguin does make sense. Emperors are large birds, twice the weight of the next biggest penguin, the king, and so are able to survive the winter fast and the extreme cold temperatures endured at this time
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With this breeding strategy, the penguin chicks become independent during the height of the summer food supply and so are able to survive better.
The chicks are very large too compared to other penguin species, if they were reared in the summer, they would have to be left to fend for themselves at a time of the year when food supply is reducing. As the chicks food requirement is very high, this would cause major problems.

Emperor penguins are able to raise a chick each year by this strategy, though the rigorous conditions of life in the deep south mean that only 19% of chicks will survive their first year. King penguins on the other hand can expect an 80% first year survival rate, though their breeding strategy means that they rear 2 chicks every 3 years and the requirement for open water year-round restricts their range to sub-Antarctic islands.

Emperors are preyed upon by Killer Whales, Leopard Seals, and the Giant Petrel. The most dangerous predator is the Leopard Seal that can eat about 15 penguins a day though they usually only catch the weak or the very sick. Healthy penguins can usually out-swim a Leopard Seal.
Read about emperor penguin adaptations
There were estimated to be around 238,000 breeding pairs of emperor penguins in the world in 2009. Taking into consideration the non-breeder ratio as well this translates into about 595,000 adult birds. Emperor penguins reach breeding age at 4 years and can live to be 20.

Pictures used courtesy of Warner Brothers or NOAA

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Emperor penguins are one of the "classic" penguin species that people imagine when they hear the name. Along with King Penguins andAdelie penguins, they are representative of the whole group. Emperor Penguin Basics Average Weight: 30kg - 66lb Average Height: 115cm - 3.8ft Breeding Season: April - December - Emperors breed in the depth of the Antarctic winter.

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In March and April, probably in response to decreasing daylight, Emperor penguins walk as far as 120 km across the sea ice to their breeding sites. Courtship is instigated by the male by performance of the ecstatic display. After placing his head on his chest and inhaling, he stretches his head skywards, spreads his flippers and calls for a couple of seconds. This is repeated as the penguin walks around the colony. When the female joins in, both penguins stand opposite each other repeatedly stretching their heads skyward in synchrony for up to a few minutes. Both penguins eventually waddle around the colony for a while before deep bowing by both partners signals the readiness for copulation. Whilst Emperor penguins may breed with the same partner as in previous years, this only happens in 15% of cases.

A single egg weighing about 460 grams is laid in May or early June. The egg is transferred to the male and the female heads off to sea to feed for about 2 months. The male is solely responsible for incubating the egg, which takes about 65 days. During this time, the male birds brave fierce weather conditions by huddling together. Continual slow shuffling of the birds in the huddle ensures that no bird remains exposed at its perimeter all the time. By the end of the incubation period, the male may have lost half of his body weight.

Ideally, the female returns at about the time the egg hatches (mid-July to early August). If the return is delayed, the father can transiently feed the chick with a proteinaceous substance produced by a gland in his oesophagus. Normally the chick is fed fish regurgitated from the stomach of a returning parent. Once the mother has returned, the male bird can head out to sea to feed for about 25 days. For the first 45-50 days after hatching the chick must remain on its parents feet warmed by the brood pouch. After that it may join a creche with other chicks. The parents both still feed the chick whilst it is in the creche The chicks moult in Nov./Dec. and acquire their juvenile plumage. When this is complete in Dec./Jan. the birds go out to sea to start feeding.

Emperor penguins usually reach sexual maturity after 3 years but generally only start breeding 1-3 years later.

Deceased chick and unhatched egg

Creche of Emperor penguin chicks

Young chick on parents feet

Emperor family

Emperor penguin chicks huddling in turtle formation

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Deceased chick and unhatched egg Creche of Emperor penguin chicks Young chick on parents feet Emperor family Emperor penguin chicks huddling in turtle formation