Food Chain

What Eats Penguins?

An Emperor Penguin On The Ice
What Eats Penguins? Photo:Samuel Blanc

What eats a penguin?

What do penguins eat?

In Antarctica, where most penguins live, the penguin’s main predator is a ferocious marine mammal with large teeth called the leopard seal. Penguins must swim very fast to escape from leopard seals that try to catch them in the water.

Gull-like birds called skuas eat baby penguins and sometimes steal penguin eggs.

Sharks and orcas are a threat to some kinds, or species, of penguins that live in warmer waters.

As for the question of what a penguin eats: Penguins eat fish and tiny crustaceans called krill.




Gordon Ramel

Gordon is an ecologist with two degrees from Exeter University. He's also a teacher, a poet and the owner of 1,152 books. Oh - and he wrote this website.
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