QUESTION:
If penguins live in the cold, why do baby penguins have to stay in their
parents' pouches?

        From Mrs. Susan Mill's Third Grade Enrichment Class
             Tyrone, Georgia

ANSWER from Steve Downey, Antarctic Expert
            Fri, 7 Feb 1997 09:07:55 -0500

Dear Third Graders, 

New-born penguins don't have much protection, they rely on their 
parents during the first few weeks of their life to keep them warm.  
(A process called "brooding").

As for having pouches, penguins don't have true pouches.  Emperor penguins,
to which you're probably referring, have a layer of skin and feathers that
they can lower over a baby chick which is resting between its feet.  When a
parent does this, it just looks like the baby is being held in a pouch.
(I'm sure on those really cold days, baby penguins wish their parents did
have pouches.)

Thanks for your question!
Steve