Poles & OceansNear threatened
Emperor penguin
Aptenodytes forsteri
The tallest and heaviest penguin. It raises its chick in the middle of the Antarctic winter.
- Weight
- Up to 40 kg
- Size
- 1.15 m tall
- Lifespan
- About 20 years
- Top speed
- About 10 km/h swimming
- Diet
- Fish, krill and squid
How heavy is that?
As heavy as 1 kid (40 kg each)
Where it lives
Three things to know
- It can dive deeper than 500 m and hold its breath for about 20 minutes.
- Huddles of thousands of penguins take turns in the warm middle.
- The father keeps the egg on his feet for about two months without eating.
Compare with…
- Weight
- Emperor penguin40 kgA 10-year-old kid40 kgAbout the same
- Size
- Emperor penguin1.15 mA 10-year-old kid1.4 mThe kid is about 1.2× as big as the emperor penguin
- Top speed
- Emperor penguin10 km/hA 10-year-old kid20 km/hThe kid is about 2× as fast as the emperor penguin
- Lifespan
- Emperor penguin20 yrsA 10-year-old kid80 yrsThe kid can live about 4× as long as the emperor penguin
