November 15, 2006—They're one of the most famous examples of dedicated animal parenting: emperor penguins, the tuxedoed Antarctic waddlers featured in the movie March of the Penguins.

These seabirds shelter their offspring from temperatures that can drop to minus 112 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 80 degrees Celsius) and frigid winds of 50 miles (80 kilometers) an hour—conditions that can kill an unprotected chick in less than two minutes. And food isn't all that easy to come by either: Mothers must dodge hungry leopard seals when fishing up meals, while fathers look after the babies back home. (Watch video: "Penguins, Leopard Seal Face Off".)

Learn how these skilled hunters survive the bitter Antarctic cold, and watch the trials and tribulations parents face in their long struggle to raise their chicks to adulthood.