Why in news?
Scientists have warned that more than half of Antarctica’s emperor penguins could be wiped out over the next 80 years due to melting ice.
About it:
- The emperor penguin is the tallest and heaviest of all living penguin species and is endemic to Antarctica.
- Like all penguins, it is flightless, with a streamlined body, and wings stiffened and flattened into flippers for a marine habitat.
- Its diet consists primarily of fish, but also includes crustaceans, such as krill, and cephalopods, such as squid.
- It is the only penguin species that breeds during the Antarctic winter.
- They trek 50–120 km over the ice to breeding colonies which can contain up to several thousand individuals.
- IUCN status – Near threatened
