Why has no one yet tried to transplant penguins to the Arctic?

Polar bear hor d`oeuvres.

Mmmm I hadn’t considered the predator aspect. The seals seem to manage, though they top the menu. I suppose there are wolves as well in places up there, and eagles and snowy owls. My goodness, the place is a slaughterhouse.

Nature is a rough place.

Let’s see. To the South you have killer whales and leopard seals. The whales are up North, but probably not used to dining on feathers. But they’re smart and adaptable, which is why they’re imprisoned at Sea World. Do the Southern killer whales eat penguins or just seals, fish and other whales?

There were some king penguins released on Lofoten Island in the north of Norway within the Arctic Circle but they did not survive.

I’m not sure what the purpose would be. What were you thinking?

I was thinking that Penguins are confined to the Southern Hemisphere, and it just seems that someone would have tried to introduce the birds to the Northern regions.

The idea is probably to preserve both areas as much as possible to their natural state. Introducing a new species to an area can often upset that area’s ecology.

TRUE But google Stinley’s tip ” Lofoten Island penguins” for a fascinating look at an experiment.

I’m going to Oregon on Monday; is that far enough North?

Oh you’re one of those hedonistic “fair weather” penguins.

Yup!!

I am going to look up the Lofoten penguin story when I get home. In Norwegian. Intriguing. I think our vicious sea birds would take them out.

I have to share this… the experiment was in the 30’s and the results were horribly sad, mostly people people are dumb. http://www.abcnyheter.no/nyheter/2014/07/28/204735/pingvinene-pa-rost

http://www.nrk.no/nordland/slik-endte-pingvinene-sin-skjebne-1.7341925

With the ice cap melting, where would they nest? Why not relocate polar bears to the Antarctic instead? Aren’t there enough examples of invasive species running amok already?

Most penguins don’t live on ice.

Did you know that there are penguin species living on the islands of New Zealand. I’ve seen them myself and they are the cutest little things… with no ice in sight. Same with the colonies in South Africa.

@cazzie I’ve seen the little blues near Dunedin, NZ as well.

They’re also quite common on the Pacific coast of South American countries.