# Penguins!!!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penguins/116764
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [July 1, 2002, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penguins/116764 "2002-07-01T01:49:59Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@guitarguy471](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guitarguy471)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2002, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penguins/116764/1 "2002-07-01T01:49:59Z")
I love penguins, and in fact they are my favorite animal. I was just curious if there was anyone who knew if it was legal to have a penguin for a pet in the united states…missouri… and if so, how would someone go about getting one as a pet???
thanks
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### Author:  [@NewUser1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NewUser1)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2002, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penguins/116764/2 "2002-07-01T02:03:21Z")
The penguins would die of heat-stroke in Misssouri…unless they were tropical penguins…and we all know that they are too small. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Thylacine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thylacine)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2002, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penguins/116764/3 "2002-07-01T02:38:23Z")
It isn’t as much fun as you may expect according to
[this](http://www.smithtown.k12.ny.us/ELAproject/Steven/Naritive%20para/My%20Pet%20Penguin.html)
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### Author:  [@Thylacine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thylacine)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2002, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penguins/116764/4 "2002-07-01T02:43:22Z")
To my horror you are clearly not the first person to ask this question, further searching lead to [this FAQ](http://www.adelie.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/FAQs/pet.htm) on the topic.
Colour me shocked, the answer would seem to be no. :rolleyes:
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### Author:  [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2002, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penguins/116764/5 "2002-07-01T03:16:03Z")
Another point not mentioned in those links - they stink to high heaven.
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### Author:  [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2002, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penguins/116764/6 "2002-07-01T03:19:38Z")
Opus stinks? Arghhh!
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### Author:  [@ratty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratty)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2002, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penguins/116764/7 "2002-07-01T05:58:48Z")
Keeping a penguin at your house in Missouri is a bad idea for many, many reasons. First off, you will have to have a pool. But not a chlorinated pool- god, no, you’ll kill them. This pool should be in-ground, it must have a high-powered filtration system for dealing with poop, and if you want one of the bigger Antarctic penguins, you’ll need a high-powered air conditioning/cooling system. Penguins also eat a lot- can you afford several hundred pounds of fish a year? That fish also has to go somewhere when the penguins are done with it- this means lots and lots of poop. This, along with the fish, and the penguins themselves will smell. Bad. And do you have the space and time for all of this? Lest we forget, penguins are social birds- a solo penguin is a miserable, maladjusted penguin. Ideally, you need at least four or five to really make them happy and well-adjusted. Thus, increase the space, time, and money. Penguins can also be ill-tempered especially during the breeding season.
_sigh_ Penguins are wonderful, fascinating animals. And they’re really cute. But they’re not pets. You can’t expect to care for them like you would a cat or dog, or even a horse, or another species of bird. They belong in the wild, or, failing that, zoos, with the money, facilities, and experience to properly care for them. Animals are not toys or interesting conversation pieces. You don’t rush out and buy an animal “because they’re super-cute and I really, really like them!”. They are living, feeling beings with needs and wants, and if you take on the responsibility for an animal without thinking about these things, you are condemning that animal to a life-time of misery or an early grave. (And this goes for all animals, from hamsters to penguins.)
Thank god for the penguins, it’s illegal to keep them unless you are actually running a zoo.
If you love penguins, visit your local zoo. Donate to penguin-specific wildlife organizations. Plan a trip to a vacation spot where penguins might be found. (I hear the Galapagos are beautiful, and they can’t be beat for wildlife and natural history- just ask Charles Darwin.) Buy a stuffed animal. Buy a calendar. Leave these wonderful creatures to the people who have the ability to care for them.