Many people may wonder why penguins live only in the southern hemisphere and why there are no penguins in the Arctic.

Not all penguins live in the Arctic, to be precise, they live in the area south of the equator.

There are 17 to 18 known species of penguins, among which only emperor penguins and Adelie penguins live in the Antarctic, while others are distributed either in the temperate zone or in areas close to the equator.

For example, Galapagos penguins are the only penguins that can live near the equator, and they live in the Colon Islands of South America.

The Galapagos penguin can live near the equator not because it is not afraid of the heat itself, but because of the Peruvian cold current and the Cromwell Current, which are colder currents that bring cooler temperatures to the hot local climate, creating a more unique climate environment.

It is because of the Cromwell Current and the Peruvian Current that food and the substances needed by penguins are brought from temperate and cold waters to the equator, where they can reproduce, and without the presence of these two currents, Galapagos penguins could only face death.

Penguins feed mainly on zooplankton in the ocean, the main food being Antarctic krill, but of course, they also eat other zooplankton, and on average a penguin can eat 0.75 kg of food a day, most of which is Antarctic krill.

From the name "Antarctic krill", it is obvious that this zooplankton is an animal that lives only in the waters of Antarctica and is distributed around the South Pole, while there is no Antarctic krill at all in the Arctic, and without this staple food, penguins would naturally not set foot in the distant Arctic.

In the 1930s, an explorer named Lars Christensen brought 69 emperor penguins from the Antarctic region to the far Arctic.

As we mentioned above about the "ecological balance", the 69 emperor penguins, as a new species were blindly thrown into the environment, and were unable to find the Antarctic krill, their main food in the Arctic. Even without the threat of predators such as Arctic foxes around, other Arctic species will form a competitive food relationship with the penguins.

Unable to adapt to their new environment in a short time, the penguins gradually disappeared, and eventually, the 69 emperor penguins died completely in the Arctic.

Each species has its development and living environment, and it is irresponsible to interfere blindly for the selfish interests of humans.

We hope that in the future, each species can grow and reproduce freely and in a balanced way in its environment.