Earth’s 18 species of penguin are to star in a BBC special highlighting how they have adapted to environments that are literally poles apart.
The lovable flightless birds, normally thought of as at home in the Antarctic, have learned to live in deserts, forests and even suburban gardens.
Narrator Liz Bonnin says the African penguin, built for life at sea, has taken to living amongst humans.
She explains: “They have plummeted from 50,000 breeding pairs to about 15,000 due to their preferred food, sardines, being over-fished.”
Bonnin reveals that 3,000 have now settled in suburban gardens in Cape Town, South Africa.
The city’s human residents have taken them to their hearts and even set up penguin crossing signs to stop cars hitting them as they waddle home.
The show looks at the very different lives the species have – with emperor penguins enduring -60C in Antarctica while others eke out life in South American deserts or in the forests of New Zealand.
Bonnin, 44, adds: “We’ve never before seen footage of emperor chicks, it’s mind-blowing what they survive. They have everything from little feathery ankles to special fats in their feet.”
Her favourites are the tiny Galapagos penguins. “Penguins on the equator, I ask you,” she laughs. “It’s wonderful.”
- Penguins: Meet the Family, BBC1, December 29, 6.30pm.
