Animal Facts > Penguins

There are 18 known species of penguins in the world. Although all penguins are native to the southern hemisphere, they are not only found in cold climate environments, as popularly believed. Three species live in the tropics and one species lived just south of the equator in the Galapagos Islands.

The largest species is the Emperor Penguin, standing 3 feet 7 inches tall and weighing 75 pounds. The smallest is the Little Blue Penguin, or Fairy Penguin, standing 16 inches tall and weighing 2.2 pounds.

Penguins diet consists of krill, fish, squid, and other forms of sealife caught while swimming. A penguin spends half of its life on land and half in the ocean.

Penquins can safely drink salt water because a gland near their eyes filters out excess salt from the blood stream. Penguins have exellent sight in the water but are near-sighted on land.