Emperor Penguin
You’ve met the smallest penguin – now meet the largest!
The emperor penguin stands around 120cm tall and weighs up to 40kg.
Emperor penguins are also standout parents, incubating eggs during bitter cold winters. A male will carefully incubate a single egg on his feet for over two months to keep it warm. He will not eat for as many as four months from courtship to hatching.
Once born, fluffy chicks need time to develop their waterproof feathers. Similarly, adults ‘catastrophic moult’ (all feathers in one go!) every year, and need refuge on the ice during this time.
Climate change means our dear emperor is drowning. Record low levels of Antarctic sea ice mean that the juveniles do not have reliable access to refuge while their waterproof feathers come in.
Alert! Emperor penguins are now endangered due to climate change.
Emperor penguins are undergoing significant population reductions because of the impacts of climate change on their habitat and food supply.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) now categorises the species as endangered.
Facts & Figures
| COMMON NAME: | Emperor penguin |
| SCIENTIFIC NAME: | Aptenodytes forsteri |
| FAMILY: | Spheniscidae |
| BODY SIZE: | 120cm |
| DIET: | Fish, krill and squid. |
| LOCATION: | Antarctic ice and the Southern Ocean |
| CONSERVATION STATUS: | Endangered, as of 2026 (IUCN) |
| POPULATION TREND | Rapid decline |