Penguins are beautiful creatures of the Antarctic wildlife. They are elegant, and their waddling march is a pleasure to the onlookers’ eyes. Unluckily, today penguins live only in the Southern Hemisphere. Galapagos penguins are the only species of penguins near the northern hemisphere in the north of the equator.
Greenland is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans. Greenland is the largest amongst other islands in the world and comparatively has less wildlife.
Greenland is present in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, Arctic animals like Polar bears and killer whales that fall as the primary predators of the northern hemisphere’s aquatic wildlife.
Arctic land is popular and friendly for different species of birds. Birds such as puffins, guillemots, and fulmars live in the Arctic region. Puffins are similar to small penguins and are often mistaken as penguins by many travelers and explorers of the northern hemisphere.
Penguin species:
Like penguins, there was another flightless bird that looks like and is called the Great Auk. The Great Auk lived in the northern hemisphere and was found in Greenland, Canada, Northern parts of Europe, and Iceland.
Great Auk in the northern hemisphere had many land predators, unlike today’s penguins in the southern hemisphere. Due to the similar appearance, Great Auk in the past and puffins in the present, it was falsely believed that penguins exist in the northern hemisphere.
The Great Auk was found to be extinct in the northern hemisphere due to land predators. Also, it is observed that humans eventually destroyed great Auk species due to over-hunting for eggs and other reasons.
There are a total of 17 to 19 species of penguins in the southern hemisphere. The Antarctic region has the most beautiful and well-built emperor and king penguins. Also, there are penguins in Australia and Africa, namely blue penguins and African penguins.
Reasons for no penguins in the Arctic:
The extinction of penguins in the arctic region has many myths and also has many practical reasons. Since arctic wildlife has polar bears, killer whales, and other aquatic mammals, penguins cannot have their habitat due to the threat to life.
Mammals in Greenland:
There are many mammals in Greenland, such as polar bears, killer whales, Arctic fox, Arctic wolves, Arctic lemmings, Arctic hare, musk ox, and reindeer. These thick fur mammals live in the coastal as well as deserted areas of Greenland.
It will be an excellent threat to penguins’ lives if they are Greenland’s habitat due to the presence of predators such as polar bears, killer whales, Arctic foxes, and Arctic wolves.
Birds in Greenland:
There are many birds in Greenland like Atlantic puffins, snow bunting, full northern bench, black guillemot, rock ptarmigan, and common eider. The Atlantic puffins look similar to penguins except for the beak that will look like a parrot’s beak, and it is also called a sea parrot.
Every bird, mammal, and species in the Arctic has different ways to thrive in the icy temperature and has other techniques to get the prey.
Conclusion:
Great Auk was the only penguin-like bird that lived in the northern hemisphere on Greenland and Canada’s shores. There are no penguin species that are found in Greenland. Greenland is located in the northern hemisphere, and penguins are the habitat of the southern hemisphere.
Image Sources:
- King Penguin and Chick By MemoryCatcher / Pixabay License
- Magellanic Penguins By hirasoares / Pixabay License
References:
https://visitgreenland.com/wildlife-in-greenland/birds/
https://www.auroraexpeditions.com.au/blog/why-are-there-no-penguins-in-the-arctic/
https://www.greenland-travel.com/inspiration/wildlife/birds/
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reference/arctic-antarctica-wildlife-myths-explained/