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The domestic yak (Bos grunniens), also known as the Tartary ox, grunting ox or hairy cattle, is a species of long-haired domesticated cattle found throughout the Himalayan region of the Indian subcontinent, the Tibetan Plateau, Northern Myanmar, Yunnan, Sichuan Gilgit-Baltistan Pakistan and as far north as Mongolia and Siberia. It is descended from the wild yak (Bos mutus).

The snow leopard (Panthera uncia), also known as the ounce, is a felid in the genus Panthera native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because the global population is estimated to number fewer than 10,000 mature individuals and is expected to decline about 10% by 2040. It is threatened by poaching and habitat destruction following infrastructural developments. It inhabits alpine and subalpine zones at elevations of 3,000–4,500 m (9,800–14,800 ft), ranging from eastern Afghanistan, the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau to southern Siberia, Mongolia and western China. In the northern part of its range, it also lives at lower elevations.

The number of species remaining is still a subject of controversy. In different types of texts people list from 16 to 19 species. Some authors have also suggested that the white flipper penguin is a separate species of small diving bird (Eudyptula), although it is now generally considered a subspecies of small penguin (e.g. Williams, 1995; Davis & Renner, 2003). Similarly, it is not clear whether the royal penguin is merely a color variation of the Macaroni penguin. Also suitable to be considered as a separate species is the northern population of Rockhopper penguins (Davis & Renner, 2003). Although all extant penguins are native to the southern hemisphere, contrary to popular belief, they are not only found in cold climates, such as Antarctica. In fact, only a few species of penguins actually live that far south. There are three species that inhabit the tropics; a species that lives as far north as the Galápagos Islands (Galápagos penguins) and occasionally crosses the equator while feeding.

The emperor penguin is a social animal in its nesting and its foraging behaviour; birds hunting together may coordinate their diving and surfacing. Individuals may be active day or night. A mature adult travels throughout most of the year between the breeding colony and ocean foraging areas; the species disperses into the oceans from January to March. The American physiologist Gerry Kooyman revolutionised the study of penguin foraging behaviour in 1971 when he published his results from attaching automatic dive-recording devices to emperor penguins. He found that the species reaches depths of 265 m (869 ft), with dive periods of up to 18 minutes. Later research revealed a small female had dived to a depth of 535 m (1,755 ft) near McMurdo Sound. It is possible that emperor penguins can dive for even deeper and longer periods, as the accuracy of the recording devices is diminished at greater depths. Further study of one bird's diving behaviour revealed regular dives to 150 m (490 ft) in water around 900 m (3,000 ft) deep, and shallow dives of less than 50 m (160 ft), interspersed with deep dives of more than 400 m (1,300 ft) in depths of 450 to 500 m (1,480 to 1,640 ft). This was suggestive of feeding near or at the sea bottom. In 1994, a penguin from Auster rookery reached a depth of 564 m; the entire dive took him 21.8 min. Both male and female emperor penguins forage for food up to 500 km (311 mi) from colonies while collecting food to feed chicks, covering 82–1,454 km (51–903 mi) per individual per trip. A male returning to the sea after incubation heads directly out to areas of permanent open water, known as polynyas, around 100 km (62 mi) from the colony. An efficient swimmer, the emperor penguin exerts pressure with both its upward and downward strokes while swimming. The upward stroke works against buoyancy and helps maintain depth. Its average swimming speed is 6–9 km/h (3.7–5.6 mph). On land, the emperor penguin alternates between walking with a wobbling gait and tobogganing—sliding over the ice on its belly, propelled by its feet and wing-like flippers. Like all penguins, it is flightless. The emperor penguin is a very powerful bird. In one case, a crew of six men, trying to capture a single male penguin for a zoo collection, were repeatedly tossed around and knocked over before all of the men had to collectively tackle the bird, which weighs about half as much as a man. As a defence against the cold, a colony of emperor penguins forms a compact huddle (also known as the turtle formation) ranging in size from ten to several hundred birds, with each bird leaning forward on a neighbour. As the wind chill is the least severe in the center of the colony, all the juveniles are usually huddled there. Those on the outside upwind tend to shuffle slowly around the edge of the formation and add themselves to its leeward edge, producing a slow churning action, and giving each bird a turn on the inside and on the outside.

The breeding colonies of gentoo penguins are located on ice-free surfaces. Colonies can be located directly on the shoreline or considerably inland. They prefer shallow coastal areas and often nest between tufts of grass. In South Georgia, for example, breeding colonies are 2 km inland. In colonies farther inland, where the penguins nest in grassy areas, they shift location slightly every year because the grass becomes trampled over time. Gentoos breed on many subantarctic islands. The main colonies are on the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and Kerguelen Islands; smaller colonies are found on: Macquarie Island, Heard Islands, Crozet Islands, South Shetland Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula. The total breeding population is estimated to be over 600,000 birds. Gentoos breed monogamously and infidelity is typically punished with banishment from the colony.[23] Nests are usually made from a roughly circular pile of stones and can be quite large, 20 cm (7.9 in) high and 25 cm (9.8 in) in diameter. The stones are jealously guarded, and their ownership can be the subject of noisy disputes and physical attacks between individuals. They are also prized by the females, even to the point that a male penguin can obtain the favors of a female by offering her a choice stone. Two eggs are laid, both weighing around 130 g (4.6 oz). The parents share incubation, changing duty daily. The eggs hatch after 34 to 36 days. The chicks remain in the nests for around 30 days before joining other chicks in the colony and forming crèches. The chicks molt into subadult plumage and go out to sea at around 80 to 100 days.

Emperor Penguins Hug To Keep Warm

Gentoo penguin chicks engage in what is known as the 'chick chase' – where they must chase their parents to get fed. It is thought that this behaviour builds up strength of the chicks and also encourages them to venture towards the sea edge and eventually follow the adult birds out to sea.

Once they have finished breeding, adult Adélie penguins typically move to ice floes or ice shelves to moult, though some remain onshore. During the winter, the birds remain in the pack ice zone, with most moving north to reach areas where there is visible light for at least part of the day – thus north of roughly 73°S. While some remain near their breeding colonies, others may move hundreds or thousands of kilometres away. As long as there are breaks in the pack ice, they can survive hundreds of kilometres south of open water, and birds are known to forage in winter in areas with up to 80% pack ice cover.

The first Adélie penguin specimens were collected by crew members of French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville on his expedition to Antarctica in the late 1830s and early 1840s. Jacques Bernard Hombron and Honoré Jacquinot, two French surgeons who doubled as naturalists on the journey, described the bird for science in 1841, giving it the scientific name Catarrhactes adeliæ. They used specimens collected from an area of the continent which had been named "terre Adélie", French for Adélie Land, itself named for Dumont d'Urville's wife, Adèle. The bird was later placed in several other genera, including Eudyptes, Pygoscelis and the now-defunct genus Dasyrhamphus, and was also later inadvertently redescribed as Pygoscelis brevirostris.

The Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) is a species of penguin common along the entire coast of the Antarctic continent, which is the only place where it is found. It is the most widespread penguin species, and, along with the emperor penguin, is the most southerly distributed of all penguins. It is named after Adélie Land, in turn named for Adèle Dumont d'Urville, who was married to French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville, who first discovered this penguin in 1840. Adélie penguins obtain their food by both predation and foraging, with a diet of mainly krill and fish.

The emperor penguin is a species of bird in the family Spheniscidae. They are the largest and heaviest of all penguins living and endemic to Antarctica. Males and females have similar plumage and size, reaching 122 cm in height and 22 to 45 kg in weight. The emperor penguin's usual diet is fish, but sometimes they also eat crustaceans, krill, mollusks and squid. While hunting, this species can stay underwater for over 18 minutes and dive as deep as 535 m (1,755 ft). They have a number of characteristics that make them adapted to this condition, including an unusually structured hemoglobin that allows it to function in low oxygen levels, solid bones to reduce pressure trauma, and the ability to reduce swelling. metabolism in its body and shut down unnecessary organ functions. Emperor penguins are famous for their adult cubs journeying each year to mate and raise offspring. Penguins breed only in the winter in Antarctica, traveling 50–120 km (31–75 mi) across the ice to reach their breeding grounds, where thousands of individuals are found. . The females will lay a single egg, after which the male will take care of the eggs, while the female will go to the sea to find prey. The male and female then take turns foraging for food in the sea and caring for the penguins in the breeding grounds. Emperor penguins have a lifespan of 20 years, although some can live up to 50 years old.