Creature Feature – King Penguin
This week is the letter ‘K’, and today’s featured creature is the King Penguin.
The King Penguin is the largest of the Falkland penguins, and the second largest penguin species overall. There are two subspecies, with both resembling Emperor Penguins slightly.
Taxonomy
Scientific Name: Aptenodytes patagonicus
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: Sphenisciformes
Family: Spheniscidae
Genus: Aptenodytes
© Fishipedia
King Penguin Fact File
Size: Individuals stand at 70-100cm and weigh from 9-18 kg
Distribution: The species can be found on sub-Antarctic islands with large populations found on islands like South Georgia, Crozet, Kerguelen, and Prince Edwar
Diet: They eat small fish called myctophids or lantern fish, in addition to squid
Behaviour: These penguins dive deeper than any other penguins, diving in excess of 300m in search of their prey!
IUCN Status: Least Concern. The global population size is extremely large and the population trend appears to be increasing
