Caution!! Penguin's Waddling!

Have you ever wondered why penguins waddle? Well, let me just say we have!

Although penguins glide through water with the greatest effort, on land, they are very clumsy creatures. When it comes to walking, for penguins they expend twice as much energy as any other terrestrial animal the same size. For penguins, the way they walk is in a waddle sort. Research shows that this is most efficient way for penguins to get around on dry land.

According to Roger Kram, from the University of Colorado, he stated;
"Our hunch was that if penguins are trying to move forward, but expend energy rocking side to side with this awkward, roly-poly, back-and-forth movement, then it's got to be wasted energy," Kram recalls. "But what we found is that they are inefficient because of their short legs and big feet, and waddling is a means to cut their losses."

Now, if you really stop and think of all the reasons they could waddle, it all comes down to this, waddling appears to help penguins conserve the kinetic energy they generate with calories when they walk!