{"id":117805,"date":"2026-01-30T21:35:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T21:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/117805\/"},"modified":"2026-01-30T21:35:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T21:35:09","slug":"20-new-york-penguins-forced-to-move-inside-as-it-gets-too-cold-for-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/117805\/","title":{"rendered":"20 New York Penguins Forced\u00a0To\u00a0Move Inside\u00a0As\u00a0It Gets Too Cold for Them\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Long Island Aquarium has brought 20 penguins inside\u00a0after\u00a0temperatures\u00a0dropped drastically in Riverhead, making it\u00a0too cold even for penguins!\u00a0<\/p>\n

The coastal town in New York State\u00a0has reached lows of 20 degrees below zero as part of a strong\u00a0stretch\u00a0of\u00a0Arctic cold<\/a>\u00a0that will continue to bring freezing\u00a0temperatures\u00a0across New York City and the Tri-State area all through the weekend.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The\u00a0U.S. National Weather Service\u00a0has\u00a0issued\u00a0a cold weather\u00a0advisory starting at midnight on Friday end ending at 10 a.m. EST on Saturday morning, warning\u00a0that the\u00a0cold wind\u00a0chills could result in hypothermia if precautions are not taken.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the Long Island Aquarium told\u00a0Newsweek: “Our colony of South African, black-footed penguins are beach bums! This species (like most penguin species)\u00a0are\u00a0not adapted to\u00a0cold weather\u00a0conditions, so\u00a0when it gets under 30 degrees outside (any time of the year), we bring them inside.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

She added that the penguins\u00a0actually spend\u00a0every night inside, so they are\u00a0very familiar\u00a0with the routine and the indoor habitat.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Our amazing animal caregivers provide extra enrichment items and spend extra time with them when they do stay in, but they have their nesting boxes and a swimming pool inside, so they are very comfortable and happy (and I’m sure happy to be out of the cold!). I like to say\u00a0it’s\u00a0like indoor recess! When the temperatures go over 30,\u00a0they’ll\u00a0go back outside for the day to their traditional habitat.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Our guests can still see our colony while they are\u00a0inside\u00a0and we do offer a\u00a0Penguin Encounter\u00a0and\u00a0Penguin Selfie\u00a0programs where our guests can get up close to them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This penguin species\u00a0is a small, flightless seabird native to the coastal islands and beaches of southwestern Africa, where it lives in large, social colonies.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Built for the water, it has a streamlined body, stiff flippers, webbed feet, heavy bones for diving, dense waterproof feathers, and a layer of fat for insulation, allowing it to swim long distances, dive for several minutes, and\u00a0hunt fish<\/a>\u00a0such as sardines and anchovies in\u00a0the\u00a0cold ocean currents.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Its black back, white belly marked with a curved black band and unique spots, and a pink patch above the eyes that helps release excess heat are key physical traits.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

These\u00a0penguins<\/a>\u00a0communicate loudly, using calls and displays to find mates, defend nests, and stay connected with partners, often forming long-term pair bonds. Breeding pairs share the work of incubating two eggs and raising\u00a0the\u00a0chicks, which grow in groups before heading out to\u00a0the\u00a0sea for one to two years and later returning as adults.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the wild, African penguins face predators on land and in the ocean and typically live\u00a0about\u00a015 to 20 years.<\/p>\n

A storm is expected this weekend he greatest effects felt on eastern Long Island, where snowfall totals of about 1 to 3 inches are possible along with gusty winds, rough seas, and minor coastal flooding.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend and they\u00a0could\u00a0appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Long Island Aquarium has brought 20 penguins inside\u00a0after\u00a0temperatures\u00a0dropped drastically in Riverhead, making it\u00a0too cold even for penguins!\u00a0…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":117806,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1457,21389,32638,9,24,55,54,56,51926,8555,31,2197],"class_list":["post-117805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-animals","tag-arctic","tag-cold","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny","tag-penguins","tag-snow","tag-storm","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117805\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}