LYCOS RETRIEVER 
The Penguins: Species
built 630 days ago
The Detroit Zoo’s Penguinarium, which opened in 1968, was the first facility in North America designed specifically for penguins. It continued the animal exhibit trendsetting the Detroit Zoo is known for, which started with the Zoo’s original design of open, barless enclosures and now includes award-winning facilities like the Arctic Ring of Life and the National Amphibian Conservation Center. The three-sided penguin habitat is surrounded by a continuous pool which allows the penguins to swim fast enough to porpoise or "swim through the air", a behavior frequently seen in the wild. The Detroit Zoo is one of the few zoos in the world to incorporate this design feature.
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There are 17 species of penguins, ranging in size from the largest emperor penguin to the diminutive fairy penguin. The emperor penguin can grow to almost 4 feet (1.2 meters) tall and may weigh up to 100 pounds (45 kilograms). The fairy penguin... called the little penguin, stands about 1 foot (30 centimeters) tall and usually weighs about 11/2 pounds (3.3 kilograms).
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![[BadNest.jpg] This is NOT a penguin's nest ! This is probably a young adelie penguin who's not been listening to what I said earlier about adelies making their nests out of pebbles to keep their eggs out of the mud. Not only is this penguin just sitting in front of the egg instead of sitting on it, but the egg is also sitting in freezing muddy water. The egg is clearly dead. But the penguin will learn and will do a better nest next year. The success rate for breeding offsprings is pretty low for young penguins but increases dramatically after a few years.](http://retrieverimages.lycos.com/images/t/h/e/the-penguins/i/038.jpg)
There are 3 different ways to feed their young amongst penguins species: Some keep freshly caught fish/krill in their stomach where they have special enzymes that inhibit bacterial development although the fish is at body temperature. They can keep for several days before being regurgitated. Others partially digest their keeps and then regurgitate this 'puree'. Finally for the emperor penguins who have to go for weeks, they digest it completely and secrete a very rich oil which they feed to their young.
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Ironically, some of the factors that have so endeared penguins to people have placed their survival in jeopardy. Many penguin species, for instance, are highly social birds that breed in large colonies called rookeries. Since most healthy adult penguins fear few land predators, particularly in colder climates, they have little natural fear of people. Curious birds may waddle right up to a visitor, a behavior that has turned some penguins into favorite subjects for today's birdwatchers and wildlife photographers. In the past... such behaviors made penguins easy targets for human hunters and egg gatherers, who dramatically reduced some populations. At the turn of the century, for example, egg collectors gathered more than 13 million African penguin eggs from colonies on the Cape Islands off South Africa, leading to the loss of some colonies.
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At Phillips Island, near the city of Melbourne, Australia, crowds of people gather in the evenings to watch the Fairy penguins come ashore. It has become a famous attraction. Flood lights have even been set up, to allow better viewing. The penguins have gotten so use to the attention that they carry on as if no one was there. Since the Fairy penguin's life is spent living closer to people than any other of the penguin species, they face hazards unknown to other penguins. They are sometimes run over by cars, as they cross roads.
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Penguins feed on small fish, floating crabs and squids. Most species of penguins eat snow, and all of them drink salt water and fresh water. They can endure long periods without food on land.
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