The Emperor penguin can be found in Antarctica between the 66°S to 78°S latitude. There are an estimated 40 colonies throughout Antarctica found on ice patches and nearby oceans.
Although the emperor penguin is a marine bird and feeds exclusively at sea, its breeding sites, called rookeries, are usually situated on the solid ice under the shelter of an ice cliff, often many miles inland. Since they breed during the winter, they must choose a site where the ice will not melt before the young have fledged in summer. Inland rookeries may contain up to 6,000 birds.
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There are no penguins located at the North Pole. In fact, all penguins live in the Southern Hemisphere. Although it is rare to find the Emperor outside of the Antarctic, they can sometimes be found living in the southern tips of New Zealand , Australia , and the Galapagos Islands . Their natural environment is the sea and on the ice. Emperors are not considered endangered and are not currently protected under international or regional laws. In areas where reliable population counts have been conducted, the evidence suggests that populations are stable. However, some colonies have not been monitored consistently and human disturbance may result in declines in breeding populations. Estimates of population sizes were 195,400 breeding pairs, or a total population size of 400,000 to 450,000.
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