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African Penguin

February 4, 2022

Today’s animal is the African penguin. It belongs to the class Aves and the Phylum Chordata. 

Here are some interesting facts about these flightless birds. 

Fun Facts: 

  • Not surprisingly, African penguins can be found along the coast of Africa near Namibia and Algoa Bay. 
  • They are one of the smallest penguins.
  • These penguins have a unique bald spot over their eyes that turns pink when they get hot. This patch helps them cool off when things get toasty. 
  • These penguins sound like donkeys, so you may also know them as jackass penguins.
  • African penguins are the only species of penguins that you can find in Africa.
  • The scientific name of the African penguins is Spheniscus demersus.
  • The African penguins can sleep while lying down or standing up on rocks.
  • The African penguins are monogamous. So, once they have a partner, it’s a partner for life.
  • The male penguin is slightly different in appearance from the female. It has a large beak and is larger than the female African penguins.
  • If the African penguins live in the wild, you can expect them to live for 10 to 15+ years. The life expectancy can be up to 25 years under the care of human beings.
  • An African penguin would enjoy fish and squid in the wild. They enjoy fish of different kinds in the zoo.
  • The impact of global warming is affecting marine life, and it can affect the African penguins that are already an endangered species.

8 Comments

  1. Bernadine Jarmon

    African penguins can hold their breathe for 4 minutes.

    Reply
  2. Edward

    These Articles are great. But when you ask a Question like “How long can the African Penguin hold their breath” I would expect to read the answer in your article and this is NOT the first time I’m writing something similar to this.

    Reply
  3. Paul

    Never said how long African penguin can hold their breath under water.

    Reply
  4. Johnnie C Hayes

    You still didn’t answer the very question you yourself posed: How long can this penguin hold its breath?

    That’s pretty sloppy ad annoying.

    Reply
  5. Angela

    The answer to holding breath is up to 4min

    Reply
  6. Gary Walter

    In the intro to this article, “Animal of the day” it asks how long can this African Penguin hold its Breath under water? Well nowhere in the articles “Fun Facts” does it give the answer..????

    Reply
  7. Aureya Magdalen

    This did not even tell me how long they can hold their breath which was the main reason I clicked on it!

    Reply
  8. Lakysha

    Love this fun facts but my heart goes out to the penguins beautiful animals

    Reply

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