Here's one thing I learned today, leopard seals will eat penguins. Here's a picture of it happening.
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You know, I was at the Shedd Aquarium this weekend, and one of the keepers was doing a presentation outside their penguin exhibit. The keeper asked, "What eats penguins?" All the kids in the (big) audience knew that leopard seals eat 'em. Me, I had no idea. Crazy.
One of the biggest disappointments of my life--up there with the death of Rufus, childhood cat--was the moment I realized that a polar bear would never eat a penguin in the wild. And probably not in captivity, either.
I mean, you see cartoons and stuff of polar bears and penguins sharing ice floes, but, really, they live on opposite sides of the world. It's like hoping for an African Lion to eat a kangaroo. Or for a giant tortoise to eat a giant panda.
A polar bear will never eat a penguin in the wild. What. A. Letdown.
Liza-It's refreshing to know that little kids are up on what actually eats penguins--I never made that particular connection (or realized the disconnect) until I was in, like, high school.
man thats sad i like penguins.... the pictures i was was coo doe it actually showed the seal eating the penguin thats crazy i would not be able to have that job trying to take pictures of crzy animals risking my life for a pictures i hope he get paied alot to do that.......
dang i would never thought that seals would do that.
Do cats eat penguins?
Hi Mason
Good question! Some parts of the world where penguins live (like Antarctica) are too cold for cats, so those penguins are probably safe from cats.
There are penguins that live in areas that could support feral (wild) cats, places like Australia, New Zealand, and parts of Africa and South America, but I bet that most penguins are probably too big for a cat to hunt—penguin species range in size from just a couple pounds to over 75 pounds! And while a ten pound cat might try for a 2 pound penguin, that 2 pound penguin probably wouldn't have much trouble slipping into the water, where the cat couldn't chase it.
But maybe a cat would eat a baby penguin. Or maybe you could put a big penguin in a blender, and chop it up enough for a cat to eat. Or you could tie a penguin down for a hungry cat.
UPDATE: wikipedia's page on the smallest penguin The Little Penguin mentions that Little Penguin colonies do best on islands without cats or foxes. I couldn't find a citation for that, but presumably that means that cats do eat very small penguins.
You know, If i saw a seal eating a penguin I'd be happy for him. Everyone always loves the penguins( i don't blame you they soooo cute) but what about the cute leopard seals they have to eat too.
so pengun will lose
i hate seals wwhy do they have to eat penguins why not something else???? :,,,(
You don't have to hate all seals just because one species eats penguins. Everything eats something for a reason nobody can control.
For example, pigs definitely hate us humans for eating so much bacon, ham and pork.
Leopard seals just eat penguins because fish are too small and penguins are just the main food source that they can find. I agree that penguins are very cute and really don't deserve to be eaten.
But let's just face it: penguins are part of the food chain and leopard seals are, too. It's the circle of life and everything exists and happens for a reason, seen or unseen.
Thank you for reading (and hopefully understanding!) ^o^
Have a great day! -Andrea K. Seal expert.
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