Facts about penguins for World Penguin Day

By Sarah Roebuck Monday, April 25th 2016

A penguin swims in the Detroit Zoo's new Polk Penguin Conservation Center, Wednesday, April 13, 2016, in Royal Oak, Mich. The new penguin habitat that the zoo calls the world's largest such facility offers its 80-plus residents new rocks for climbing, waves, snow and better ice conditions, while allowing visitors to come nose-to-beak with the stately birds. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

(WPBN/WGTU)-- Monday is World Penguin Day!

Monday is one of two days throughout the year dedicated to the wobbling birds. April 25th is World Penguin Day and January 20 this Penguin Awareness Day.

According to the World Wildlife Fund, penguins are a family of 17 to 19 species of birds that mostly live in the southern hemisphere.

The WWF says that even though penguins cannot fly across the sky, they can fly underwater. Instead of wings, penguins have flippers that can propel their bodies up the 15 miles per hour.

Climate change is a growing concern for penguins that live in Antarctica-- the emperor penguins and the Adelie penguins, the WWF reports.

The WWF says "a 2008 WWF study estimated that 50 percent of the emperor penguins and 75 percent of the Adelie penguins will likely decline or disappear if global average temperatures rise above pre-industrial levels by just 2 degrees Ca scenario that could be reached in less than 40 years."


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