Underestimating an emperor penguin is a mistake that might cost you dearly
Penguins have an undeserved reputation as funny and somewhat ridiculous animals and it’s easy to see why: they’re cute, flightless birds that waddle about like fluffy, drunk toddlers. Hollywood casts Danny Devito as your human equivalent for a reason.
However, underestimating them is a mistake that might cost you dearly, as one petrel bird discovered when it attacked a group of emperor penguin chicks hoping for an easy meal.
As these chicks made their way to the sea without their parent’s supervision for the first time, a predatory giant petrel swooped in for what it thought would prove a quick kill. The chicks initially tried to flee, but struggled with running on land, and, in a case of ironically unhappy feet, one of them slipped and fell, becoming easy prey to the predatory bird.
When the petrel grabbed him by the neck with its strong beak, it looked like there was little or no hope left for the clumsy chick, but a tactical fall allowed it to escape and slide away back to its group.
Rejoined by their fallen companion, the chicks assembled into a defensive circle that allowed them to protect each other from all sides. The hunt was brought to a stall. After a tense standoff, the arrival of an adult Adelie, a smaller, but extremely feisty species of penguin, finally set the petrel on the run.
Predators like the petrel are just one of the many dangers encountered daily by penguins.
There are many lessons we can learn from it:
1) There is strength in unity – two are better than one.
2) How or what we look like, our race, color, etc. should never be a factor as to whether or not we stand up against injustice, in the end, we are all the same – we are all humans.
3) You’re never too small to stand up for what’s right, it’s your conviction and determination that matters not your stature.
At the end of the video, the Adélie penguin accompanied the chick penguins to the sea.
The sea might not be the safest place for them, but at least they are more slippery and harder to catch.
Sources:
- https://youtu.be/Z7PlUGbsXlQ
- https://www.bbcearth.com/news/penguin-chicks-rescued-by-unlikely-hero
- https://www.flixxy.com/penguin-chicks-rescued-by-unlikely-hero.htm
- https://ronproject.com/penguin-chick-rescued-by-hero/
- https://us-east-2.console.aws.amazon.com/polly/home/SynthesizeSpeech
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