Imagine you're about to
be a proud new father, but first, you have to
give birth to 2,000 babies. Sounds painful, right? Well, if you're a male seahorse,
that is part of the job. Turns out, there's a lot
of animal dads out there who do all of the hard work. The hardhead catfish
takes parental sacrifice to the extreme. To protect the eggs, he'll
hold them in his mouth. And it's not just one or two eggs. It could be as many as 65. The eggs take up so much
space that he can't eat because he might swallow one. So he'll fast for over two
months while the eggs develop. Believe it or not, the male giant water bug
takes on an even heavier load. Females lay up to 100
eggs on the male's back. He'll carry the eggs for
the next two to three weeks as they develop. But during that time, the eggs
and mucus glue his wings down so that he can't even fly, making him vulnerable to predators. Plus, the eggs weigh him
down so much he has to rely on slower, easier prey like snails. Or he just doesn't eat at all. But it's worth it to ensure
his future offspring are safe. Luckily, for the water bug, he can return to his regular
life after the eggs hatch because the babies fend for themselves. That's not the case for the male rhea. He doesn't just stick around
to raise his chicks on his own, he raises multiple families at once. During breeding season, the
male rhea will build a nest to attract as many females as possible. He'll form a group of
about five to seven females and mate with them that season. The females lay their eggs in
his nest and then skedaddle. Like, for good, leaving him to raise and
defend all 30 or so chicks until they're about six months old. Talk about the challenges
of being an only parent. Last but certainly not least,
is the male emperor penguin who does a lot of the hard work early on. Female penguins entrust
their eggs to the males. But since penguins don't have
nests, the males have to play a delicate balancing act. They keep the egg warm atop their feet and away from the frozen
ground they stand on. But they can't hunt or forage for food. They have to stay put
and protect that egg. But the hard work doesn't even end there. By the time the chicks hatch, the fathers are starved from
fasting for weeks on end but the chicks need to be fed. So, Dad manages to regurgitate some food from his esophagus to feed
the chick until Mom returns. Delicious, thanks Dad. Love it when you cook dinner. Looks like there's a lot of
animal dads who deserve an award for Father of the Year.
