Emperor Penguin

I wrote an expository essay on Emperor Penguins.
They’re black, white, and they can’t fly. If you’re stumped, here’s a clue. They are zebras, NOT! If you said Emperor Penguins, you just won a well written essay filled with fun fascinating facts including physical features, animal classification, reproduction, and endangerment status, about Emperor Penguins!

Emperor Penguin’s physical features are fascinating. According to the New England Aquarium, at full grown size they can be 36-44 inches tall and 60-90 pounds in weight. They have a fine white fur on their belly and face, black fur on their back and wings, and a yellowish-orangish color on their neck. Their life span is somewhere between 15-20 years old. The largest groups of penguins are the Emperor Penguins. These birds speak by sounds and can go 850 feet underwater for 18 minutes! Migrating close to the edge of the sea is normal for the Emperor Penguins in the winter because it gets colder in the Arctic on ice. Did you know that the males regularly go 62-64 days without food? That is true because the females go out for food while the males stay behind and watch the eggs. They’re warm blooded animals, which makes people believe that they are mammals, but science proves differently.

Although Emperor Penguins have many signs of being a mammal, they are actually classified as birds. They breathe through their air sacs in their lungs. Emperor Penguins lay 1 egg at a time and usually only lay 2 in their lifetime. The males normally watch the eggs until the chick hatches. They live in the Antarctic Zone and travel by wobbling on their webbed feet or swimming. National Geographic’s website states that they are carnivores and eat squid, krill, and shrimp. These birds are truly amazing, but are sadly becoming endangered.

Emperor Penguins are becoming endangered creatures. PBS.com says that humans are hunting them and stealing their eggs. Those actions are dramatically decreasing the population of not only Emperor Penguins, but also the African Penguin and the King Penguin. They have a very friendly behavior because there are a few predators on land, which makes them popular to birdwatchers and photographers. That is why men kill them and steal their eggs; the penguins see us as friends and walk up to us. But the biggest reason why penguins are endangered is the oil spills. Penguins are innocent creatures that are being killed for no reason. Only you can prevent the low population of Emperor Penguins.

If you were bored out of your mind, then you wasted your guess on what kind of animal this is, because you learned about many facts. That’s including where they live, how many eggs they lay in a lifetime and their friendly behavior. Go to National Geographic to find out more interesting facts about Emperor Penguins. Look forward to more essays by me!