King penguin

Penguins breed in more or less large colonies. All species are flightless, live on seashores and feed on marine fish and larger invertebrates. No other bird is as strongly tied to the water as the penguin. Some species spend up to three quarters of their lives in the sea. Their wings have developed into stiff, paddle-like flippers. This enables them to reach top speeds of around 10 kilometers per hour and diving depths of 55 meters on average. The greatest diving depth ever observed was 380 meters. Homosexual behavior is known from many animal species. Contrary to popular belief, this is not a case of "misunderstanding" or substitute sexuality due to the lack of opposite-sex partners. Same-sex couples also get together if there are enough partners of the opposite sex. Homosexual penguins know the same behavioral elements in partnership, during courtship and in the rearing of young as heterosexual animals. The only disadvantage is that they have to steal the eggs or young from heterosexual couples. This was observed at Zurich Zoo in 2009, for example, when two male king penguins stole the newly hatched young of a very experienced 20-year-old female. However, the two thieves then took care of the young in a very exemplary and successful manner. The populations of some penguin species are declining. The Antarctic Research Trust (ART) is leading projects to investigate the causes and is studying the hunting and migration behavior of Magellanic, southern rockhopper and king penguins on the coasts of South America and on the sub-Antarctic islands. Researchers have discovered that fledged king penguins cover enormous distances of up to 4000 kilometers on their first foraging trip at sea.

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