Can you legally buy and own a penguin as a pet?

All species of penguin are protected so that you could only (legally) get a penguin from a zoo that had bred it. Penguins are social animals and live in large colonies. I'm sure you don't want a depressed penguin, so you'd need to get him some friends. You'll need approximately 20 penguins to get the party going. read more

To own a penguin legally will require a lot of permits and paperwork, plus you would only be able to obtain a penguin that was born in captivity from a facility holding USDA permits. Like other species of birds, penguins do better in number so you wouldn't want to own 1 or 2 because penguins are social animals. read more