How Animals Care for Their Young: Parenting Styles in the Animal World

How Animals Care for Their Young: Parenting Styles in the Animal World — page 3
Emperor penguiNs A FAMILY OF GENTLEMEN When you see these handsome fellows you should take off your hat not because they’re all dapper in their little tailcoats but because they manage to take care of their young even in the most challenging circumstances Cold hunger enemies they deal with all of these when raising their tiny penguins and properly preparing them to live in the rough Antarctic wilderness It all begins with an egg When the mom lays an egg she rolls it over to the dad's legs and sets out for a very long journey towards the sea She’s starving and can spend up to two months hunting The upbringing is taken over by the diligent father When the right time comes the little penguin hatches As soon as it’s born it starts screaming and wakes up all the unhatched young around Thanks to this all little penguins in the entire colony are born almost at once EVERYBODY OUT The Nanny The dad becomes a full-time parent And he takes his role very seriously indeed When the baby is still in its egg he keeps the egg nice and warm on his own feet covering it with the excess skin of his belly so that it doesn’t touch the ice-covered ground and doesn’t get blown upon by the cold wind Once the baby is born he feeds it with a curdy substance that forms in his crop He joins forces with other dads and forms a group with them to keep all the young warm THAT'S ENOUGH 4