penguins

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Biggest King Penguin Colony Sees a Catastrophic Drop

Population at remote French island falls 90% in 3 decades

(Newser) - The last time scientists visited the remote French island of Île aux Cochons in the Indian Ocean, they found more than 2 million king penguins, including 500,000 breeding pairs. That was 1982, and it gave the island the distinction of being the largest such colony in the world....

Secret Colony of Penguins Given Away by Own Poop
Scientists Find
Huge, Secret
Colony of Penguins
NEW STUDY
Mar 2, 2018 11:38 AM CST

Scientists Find Huge, Secret Colony of Penguins

'Supercolony' of 1.5M Adélie penguins on Antarctic Peninsula is a major find

(Newser) - More than 1 million penguins who've been hiding in a remote part of Antarctica were recently discovered thanks to images taken from space and ... their own poop. A study in the Scientific Reports journal reveals the Danger Islands find of more than 750,000 pairs of Adélie penguins—...

Ancient Penguins Were Much Bigger Than Modern Ones

Kumimanu biceae stretched out to nearly 6 feet while swimming

(Newser) - Fossils from New Zealand have revealed a giant penguin that was as big as a grown man, roughly the size of the captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins, per the AP . The creature was slightly shorter in length and about 20 pounds heavier than the official stats for hockey star Sidney...

In Colony Where 36K Penguins Mated, Just 2 Chicks Survived

'Catastrophic breeding event' strikes Adélie penguin colony in Antarctica

(Newser) - About 18,000 breeding pairs of Adélie penguins mated on Petrels Island in Antarctica this year. Two chicks survived. Two. "It’s more like ‘Tarantino does Happy Feet,' with dead penguin chicks strewn across a beach in Adélie Land," the Guardian quotes the head...

There Are Millions More Penguins Than We Thought

Scientists undercounted the Adelie penguins on Antarctica by 3.6M

(Newser) - In a rare bit of good news in the animal conservation world, scientists say they vastly lowballed the penguin population on Antarctica. The off-base estimate pertains to Adelie penguins—that's the adorable Happy Feet variety—and it turns out there are 3.6 million more of them than previously...

Use of Actual Penguins at NHL Game Rankles PETA

They were 'terrorized,' says group, but zoo calls that nonsense

(Newser) - The zoo calls it an "enrichment experience" for penguins, but PETA thinks it amounts to "shy animals terrorized." Such is the controversy over the NHL's decision to put live penguins on the ice before a rare outdoor game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers. In...

7 Penguins Mysteriously Drowned at Canadian Zoo

'Nothing we’ve ever encountered before'

(Newser) - Employees at the Calgary Zoo made a horrifying discovery Thursday morning: seven dead Humboldt penguins, all apparently drowned in a 3-feet-deep pool. "Everybody here is pretty shaken up by it," animal care director Jamie Dorgan tells CBC News . The penguins were being kept in a holding area this...

150K 'Dead' Penguins Might Just Be Chilling Elsewhere

They may have only abandoned their colony: expert

(Newser) - Troubled by the apparent deaths of 150,000 penguins since a Rhode Island-sized iceberg crashed into Antarctica in 2010? Good news: There might be an alternative explanation for their disappearance. No one has actually found the bodies of 150,000 Adélie penguins that vanished from a colony at Cape...

Iceberg Crashes Into Antarctica, Kills 150K Penguins

Suddenly, their food source was 40 miles away

(Newser) - Penguins have been recorded living at Cape Denison in Antarctica's Commonwealth Bay for 100 years, the Guardian reports. But their time could be nearly up. According to CNN , 150,000 penguins in the Cape Denison colony have died since an iceberg nearly the size of Rhode Island crashed into...

How One Aquarium Is Helping Penguins Get Frisky

New England Aquarium giving them 'honeymoon suites'

(Newser) - The New England Aquarium wants its endangered African penguins to get a little steamy. Aquarium experts are playing matchmaker behind the scenes to encourage eight pairs of African penguins to breed more chicks. Biologists say that will help a population that's expected to be extinct in the wild by...

To Avoid Falling on Ice, Do as Penguins Do

Don't stick with your usual stride: waddle instead

(Newser) - If anyone's an expert at walking in icy conditions, it's penguins—so it only makes sense that we should follow their example to stay safe. An infographic from Tablet explains it: Prevent slipping by focusing your center of gravity "over your front leg." That's instead...

Penguins Can&#39;t Taste Fish: Study
 Penguins 
 Can't Taste 
 the Fish They Eat 
new study
Feb 17, 2015 1:40 PM CST

Penguins Can't Taste the Fish They Eat

Their sense of taste is very limited

(Newser) - Penguins, it seems, can't really taste their dinners. They aren't able to pick up on sweetness, bitterness, or a meaty flavor known as umami, a study finds. Instead, they can only taste sourness and saltiness, the BBC reports. That sets them apart from other birds, most of which...

Australia's Oldest Guy Knits Sweaters—for Penguins

Alfie Date has been knitting for 80 years

(Newser) - When Alfred "Alfie" Date moved into a new retirement home on the New South Wales Central Coast last year, his reputation preceded him. But it wasn't his title of Australia's oldest person that the facility's nurses were most intrigued by. "I think I'd been...

Seals Busted Having Sex With ... Penguins

Antarctic fur seals observed getting frisky with King penguins on Antarctic island

(Newser) - Scientists are documenting "sexual coercion" in the Antarctic, and it's probably not anything like what one might think: Young male Antarctic fur seals, it seems, have been documented having sex with King penguins of undetermined gender, reports the BBC , via a study in the journal Polar Biology . Scientists...

Fossil Find: Penguins the Size of NBA Players

Klekowskii penguin would have dwarfed modern cousins

(Newser) - At 90 pounds, the emperor penguin has earned the title of World's Biggest Penguin—but it once had a relative that could have blown it out of the proverbial water. Researchers have discovered fossils of a 250-pound penguin on Antarctica's Seymour Island, Phys.org reports. Palaeeudyptes klekowskii lived...

Study Paints Bleak Picture for Emperor Penguins

 Emperor Penguins 
 Marching Toward Peril 
study says
Jun 30, 2014 6:58 AM CDT

Emperor Penguins Marching Toward Peril

Study: Climate change to cause steep population declines by 2100

(Newser) - The iconic Emperor penguin is now marching toward its own demise thanks to climate change, according to the first study to assess the creature's long-term chances. An international team of scientists studying Antarctica's Emperor penguin population is calling for the birds to be reclassified as "endangered" after...

Study: Climate Change Killing Penguins

Wetter storms, warmer temperatures taking a toll in Argentina, say researchers

(Newser) - Researchers who have spent nearly 30 years studying a major penguin colony on the coast of Argentina say climate change is taking a real toll on the animals, reports LiveScience . In their study published in PLoS One , the researchers say wetter storms that are particularly deadly for young chicks are...

Penguins&#39; Unlikely Savior: Dogs
 Penguins' Unlikely 
 Savior: Dogs 
in case you missed it
Jun 8, 2013 7:00 PM CDT

Penguins' Unlikely Savior: Dogs

Maremma sheepdogs help restore population to Australia island

(Newser) - Things got so bad for the penguins on Australia's Middle Island that one researcher counted all of four just seven years ago, down from a peak of 1,500. The problem, as the New Zealand Herald explains, is that red foxes acquired a taste for the Little Penguins and...

Explained: Why Penguins Can't Fly

Theory: They're just too good at swimming

(Newser) - Wouldn't the March of the Penguins have been a whole lot easier as Flight of the Penguins? Perhaps—but if penguins were able to fly, they might have to give up their incredible swimming ability, scientists say: It's a tradeoff. A team looked at the guillemot, a relative...

Mass Penguin Die-Off in Brazil
 Mass Penguin Die-Off in Brazil
Jul 14, 2012 6:52 AM CDT

Mass Penguin Die-Off in Brazil

Veterinarians concerned as dead penguins seemed well fed, healthy

(Newser) - Wildlife experts are concerned and investigating after 512 Magellanic penguins washed up dead across 65 miles of the Brazilian coast, reports the Merco Press . Further worrying veterinarians is that the birds were all apparently in good health, well fed, and free from oil stains. Magellanic penguins are migratory, moving from...

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