National Geographic Kids: Hi, Sharks!

NATGEOKIDS.COM • JUNE | JULY 2020

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Hi,

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Meet these 7 surprising swimmers

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MOUNTAIN GORILLAS AND Jolle codeCfl_J.U.J.'m' g andmysten·es
FIERCE BIG CATS. LUSH JUNGLES
AND ENDLESS DESERTS that may """""''to kids who __...,.,. -Bool<tist
'S(JI'tto ...w...i-th cCJtt.ll1! d~ ttch~'
be hiding more than meets the eye.
An adventurer's dream come true
for the students aboard the Explorer
Academy ship Orion.

But no sooner do they arrive than
danger strikes again, and this time,
one of Cruz's closest friends becomes
the unintended victim.

Discover book fo ur, Explorer Academy: Th e St ar Dunes, TTWOI rnum
a nd the fi rst t hree b ooks in the thrilling seven-book
series, along with an awesome w rite-in jo urna l a nd fun
act ivit y books featuring the cha racters a nd themes of
Explo rer Acad e my.

Editor in Chief and Vice President, IN THIS ISSUE
Kids Magazines & Digital
Rachel Buchholz 12 Shark Fest

Design Director, Magazines Eileen O’Tousa-Crowson Dive in to join the party with these seven surprising sharks.

Editorial Kay Boatner, Senior Editor / Digital Producer; 20 Epic goofo meter DEPARTMENTS
Allyson Shaw, Editor / Digital Producer
Science Fails 4 Weird
Photo Shannon Hibberd, Senior Photo Editor But True!
Nat Geo explorers spill
Production Sean Philpotts, Director their most embarrassing 5 Guinness
moments. World Records
Digital Laura Goertzel, Director
22 Wildfire 6 All About Money
PUBLISHED BY NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PARTNERS, LLC Rescues 7 Bet You Didn’t Know!
8 Awesome 8
Chairman of the Board of Directors Heroic people face down 10 Amazing Animals
Peter Rice dangerous blazes to save 28 Fun Stuff
helpless animals.
Chief Executive Officer PPOAFGUSETSN1E8–R19!
Gary E. Knell 26 30 Cool Things
About Planets COVER: JIM ABERNETHY / NATIONAL
Editorial Director GEOGRAPHIC IMAGE COLLECTION (SHARK);
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Partnerships, [email protected] For corrections and clarifications, BERKELEY) (JUPITER). PAGE 3: WATERFRAME /
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Watch Fast Facts
for even more crazy-fun facts.
natgeokids.com/june-july

Check out these
outrageous facts.

BY KATE HALE

A Alligator Lightning
museum in
South Korea teeth can make the
is designed are air around it
to look like a
hollow. h5otitmtees r
toilet
bowl. One than the sun’s
type of surface.
The sunset on
wildflower WHO
Mars WANTS
appears smells like TO PLAY
blue. TWISTER?
chocolate.
Pigeons
Kinkajous ISSELEE / DREAMSTIME (ALLIGATOR); EXACTOSTOCK / SUPERSTOCK (LIGHTNING); PETRO PERUTSKYI / ALAMY
have received (PIGEON), NEWSCOM (MEDAL), IMAGE DIGITALLY COMPOSED; EVERETT HISTORICAL / SHUTTERSTOCK
medals of honor can twist (GEORGE WASHINGTON PORTRAIT); JAMES CARMICHAEL JR / NHPA / PHOTOSHOT (KINKAJOU)

for military their hind feet
service. backward to
climb trees.
Two of

George
Washington’s

library books
have been missing
for more

than

220

years.

4 NAT GEO KIDS • JUNE | JULY 2020

GUINNESS Proud
to be
WORLD loud!

RECORDS BY JESS KRUEGER

CHARLIE THE
GOLDEN RETRIEVER
SHOWS OFF HIS LOUD
BARK TO OWNER
KAYLA FREEBAIRN.

SUPERLOUD DOG If you tell Charlie the
golden retriever to speak,
you’d better cover your
ears first. He holds the
record for the loudest
bark by a dog, at 113.1
decibels. That’s about as
loud as a rock concert.
Luckily for his owners,
Charlie usually doesn’t
have a lot to say.

NEWSPIX / GETTY IMAGES (CHARLIE); ALEJANDRO VALDÉS (CUP); GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS TOENAILS
(TOENAILS). INFORMATION PROVIDED BY © 2020 GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS LIMITED.
OUTGROW SHOES

Anyone have a nail file? Louise Hollis’s toenails
are the longest on record. At one point, if all
10 were laid end to end they would’ve mea-
sured more than seven feet long. Hollis wears
platform sandals so her toenails don’t drag on
the ground. And if one of her nails does break,
she keeps it. Maybe there’s a record for largest
collection of toenails.

REALLY BIG CUP

You’d need a giant fan to cool off this huge mug. The largest
cup of coffee holds over 6,000 gallons of the bitter beverage,
enough to fill nearly 150 bathtubs. We vote for the next cup to
hold some hot chocolate instead.

5

BY KRISTIN BAIRD RAmNI

Some of A 1,400- Coins issued “MIND YOUR
year-old by the United BUSINESS”
the oldest coin sold for States in 1787
had the words
piggy $5.76 million, one
of the most “Mind Your
banks expensive Business”

in the world coins on one side.
were made ever.
around the MONEY TIP!

15th IF YOU
century. SET ASIDE

Ethiopian coins Pikachu ONE DIME

dated 1977 were and other EACH DAY,
AT YEAR’S END
actually issued in Pokémon
YOU’LL HAVE
1984. The country characters
appear on $36.50.
follows a calendar dollar coins in
that’s nearly THAT’S ENOUGH
Niue, an TO BUY A
8 years earlier
island some VIDEO GAME OR
than Western ones. 1,500 miles from THREE TICKETS
TO THE MOVIE
The small New Zealand.
THEATER.
tooth-shaped The Bank of
designs that England holds a

circle the edges of 100-million-
some coins are pound note

called denticles. called a titan.

Belarus U.S.
banknotes
issued a
are printed
20-ruble
collector’s 4 times:
coin
for background
with a picture of images, the back,
the front, and
potato serial numbers
pancakes and seals.

on one side.

POTATO
PANCAKES

astounding facts

6about Africa
BY ERIN WHITMER

3

1 Tanzania Mummified
has the world’s crocodiles have

largest population been discovered
in ancient
of tree- 2
climbing Egyptian
lions. cemeteries.
Thrill-
4 seeking tourists 6
sandboard down
More than giant dunes on Some
manyof Africa’s scenes in the
a thousand beaches and
languages Star Wars
movies
are spoken in 5 deserts.
were filmed in
Africa.

Africa’s Tunisia.

Arabian camels

have one hump;

Bactrian camels

inAsia have
two.

© NORBERT WU / MINDEN PICTURES 7JUNE | JULY 2020 • NAT GEO KIDS

awesoome BY JULIE BEER AND MICHELLE HARRIS

1 FLIPPING OUT THIS IMAGE
IS A MASH-UP
Freeride mountain biking OF SEVERAL
sends riders down routes PHOTOGRAPHS OF
that look impossible to CAMERON ZINK’S
most people. Besides trails, 78-FOOT-LONG
bikers ride on wood planks, BACKFLIP.
platforms, and even off of
cliffs! U.S. biker Cameron
Zink impressed the crowd at
a freeride mountain bike
competition in Utah when
he completed a 78-foot-long
backflip, one of the biggest
in history.

SOARING SPORTS
YOU’D BETTER LIKE HEIGHTS IF YOU PLAN TO PLAY THESE GAMES.

2 DEFYING
GRAVITY

Gymnasts use
strength, agility,
coordination, and bal-
ance to leap and flip
in the air. Considered
the world’s best gym-
nast, Simone Biles of
the United States
(left) won four gold
medals and a bronze
at the 2016 Olympic
Games in Brazil. She
even has four original
moves named after
her. Go, Simone!

8 NAT GEO KIDS • JUNE | JULY 2020

4 CHECK
OUT
DIVE IN THE

Look out below! This cliff BOOK!
diver takes a big leap in
Mazatlán, Mexico. People 5 FLIGHT OF
have been cliff diving for THE FUTURE
centuries: It’s said that
Hawaiian warriors jumped Hoverboards might
from cliffs on the island of become old school if fly-
Lanai to prove their loyalty boards(like the one
and bravery. shown here) ever take off.
Still in development, this
3 ALLEY- flyboard has four engines © DANIEL MILCHEV / GETTY IMAGES (1), IMAGE DIGITALLY COMPOSED; © CHRISTOPHER MORRIS / ZUMA PRESS / NEWSCOM (2);
OOP operated by a handheld ROBERT MORA / GETTY IMAGES (3); © JVT / GETTY IMAGES (4); FRANKY ZAPATA (5); © DON BARTLETTI / LOS ANGELES TIMES VIA
remote. It’s fueled by GETTY IMAGES (6); © MATHIEU BELANGER / THE NEW YORK TIMES / REDUX PICTURES (7); OHRIM / SHUTTERSTOCK (8)
Now here’s a way to kerosene and will be able
guarantee a dunk— to cover more than 7,000
trampoline basketball, feet without stopping. Up
or basketball with next: flyboard races in
some assists by tram- the sky!
polines. Sometimes
going by the name 6 SPRINGS
SlamBall, the game was FOR FEET
increasing in popularity
as more trampoline This super bouncer from
parks opened across California can jump
the United States. more than six feet in
the air on his pogo stick.
Traditionally, pogo sticks get
their bounce from springs, but
this one works with compressed
air, which increases height.

TWO PEOPLE 7 OFF THE 8 GO FLYA KITE
PRACTICE WALL WALL
TRAMPOLINE Talk about catching some air. A kiteboarder uses the wind to
AT THE QUEBEC You literally bounce off his advantage on the waters near the island nation of
CIRCUS SCHOOL the walls with this pas- Mauritius, off the coast of Madagascar. Kiteboarders move
IN CANADA. time. Part gymnastics, along the water and make jumps up to 50 feet by using
park parkour, wall tram- strength and coordination to control the kite that they’re
poline jumpers impro- attached to.
vise flips and twists
midair. Some circus
acrobats have been
doing a version of wall
trampoline for years,
and now jumpers are
hoping to turn it into a
competitive sport.

9JUNE | JULY 2020 • NAT GEO KIDS

AMAZING
ANIMALS

NO
arguIng—
It’s bath

tIme!

Cat Adopts I NEED TO
Squirrels! HIRE A

Bakhchysaray, Crimea next to Pusha inside a warm groom the new babies to put BABYSITTER.
Pusha the cat definitely has enclosure.“Pusha immediately her scent on them, making
her paws full! began licking them like they them part of the family,” enclosure, and local fami-
were her own, and soon the she says. lies adopted Pusha’s kit-
On the same day that squirrels were drinking her tens. Pusha still lives at the
Pusha gave birth to four milk,” photographer Alexey Eventually the squirrel park, where she’s known as
kittens, workers at the park Pavlishak says. pups moved into their own the best mom ever.
where the cat lives found
three abandoned squirrel Cats sometimes care for —Elizabeth Hilfrank
pups in a tree hollow. They other baby animals if they
knew the young Eurasian already have kittens, cat
red squirrels wouldn’t sur- behavior expert Marilyn
vive without a mother, so Krieger says.“The mom will
employees placed the pups

10 NAT GEO KIDS • JUNE | JULY 2020 REUTERS / ALEXEY PAVLISHAK TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY (PUSHA, BOTH); MARIAN BRICKNER,
JACKSONVILLE ZOO AND GARDENS (LEXI); TAMARA REYNOLDS PHOTOGRAPHY (WILLIE)

Bonobo NOW WHAT FOR MY
“Flosses” DID I DO WITH NEXT TRICK, I
MY ELECTRIC WILL RESCUE 22
TOOTHBRUSH? PUPPIES FROM

A BURNING
BUILDING.

Parrot
Saves

Toddler

Jacksonville, Florida says Tracy Fenn, who looked around her habitat at the Denver, Colorado
It’s a picture sure to make after Lexi when she lived at Jacksonville Zoo. Now she “Mama, baby! Mama, baby!”
any dentist smile: Lexi the the Jacksonville Zoo and lives at a zoo in Leipzig, When babysitter Megan
bonobo “flossing” her teeth Gardens. Germany, where she’s had Howard heard those words
with string. But this ape’s not three babies of her own and coming from Willie the par-
really hooked on hygiene— Close relatives of chimpan- has adopted another young- rot, she knew something was
she’s just having fun. “Lexi zees, bonobos are considered ster. Too bad she can’t teach terribly wrong.
is very curious, so when she the smartest—and most her family members how to
pulled the string off of one playful—primates. Lexi is brush their teeth. Howard was in the bath-
of her toys, she put it in her no exception: She’d often do room when her pet bird
mouth and played with it,” somersaults and backflips —Sarah Wassner Flynn started screeching. She ran
to see what had happened
PARROT and discovered two-year-old
Denver, Hannah Kuusk choking on
Colorado food and turning blue.
Thinking quickly, she per-
BONOBO formed the Heimlich maneu-
Jacksonville, ver and dislodged the snack.
Florida
“Willie calls me Mama, and
CAT AND he knew Hannah was in trou-
SQUIRRELS ble,” Howard says.“He wanted
Bakhchysaray, me to help her.” Parrot expert
Crimea Phoebe Greene Linden says
that parrots—very brainy
birds—can sense scary situa-
tions.“They develop strong
bonds with humans and are
highly aware of change, even
danger,” she says. Today
Hannah is healthy and
happy—and Willie won’t let
her out of his sight.“He fol-
lows her wherever she goes
and squawks,‘I love you,’”
Howard says. That’s one
devoted parrot!

—Sarah Wassner Flynn

11JUNE | JULY 2020 • NAT GEO KIDS

Shark

DIVE IN TO JOIN

THE PARTY WITH

7THESESURPRISING
SHARKS.

‹ BY ALLYSON SHAW
Think all sharks are gigantic, toothy eating machines? Think
again: With more than 500 species of sharks, you’re sure to
meet a few that surprise you. For instance, some sharks have
teeth so small that they can’t take a bite out of anything.
Others are practically vegetarian!

“You think you understand sharks, and then they do
something that totally shocks you,” says Lisa Natanson, a
biologist who studies sharks for the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration. Dive in to discover seven
species of sharks with mind-blowing traits.

12 NAT GEO KIDS • JUNE | JULY 2020

A group 1 Fishy Friends
of sharks Lemon Sharks
is called a
Can’t wait to hang out with
shiver. your BFF? Neither can these
sharks. Young lemon sharks
often stick together for
protection, helping each
other watch out for larger
sharks and other predators.

But scientists have learned
that lemon sharks won’t
befriend just anybody.“They
prefer to spend time with
sharks that they’ve met
before instead of strangers,”
says Clemency White, a
researcher at the Bimini
Biological Field Station in
the Bahamas.

The sharks hang out with
the same friends for years,
following each other or
swimming next to each other.
And when scientists studied
the pups in a predator-free
environment, these sharks
still chose to swim together
rather than alone. Maybe
these fish need matching
friendship bracelets.

WATERFRAME / ALAMY TWO LEMON
SHARKS HANG
OUT NEAR
THE BAHAMA
ISLANDS.

13JUNE | JULY 2020 • NAT GEO KIDS

You’re more
likely to die from
a lightning strike
or a bee, wasp, or
hornet sting than

from a shark
attack.

Sharks
are relatives

of manta
rays.

A DIVER FOLLOWS
A WHALE SHARK IN
THE INDIAN OCEAN.

2 Gentle Giants Sharks
Whale Sharks have been on
Earth longer
A whale shark’s mouth is so than trees.
wide that a 10-year-old kid
could fit inside. But don’t FRANCO BANFI / GETTY IMAGES (2); © ANDY MURCH / BLUEPLANETARCHIVE (3, NON-GLOW); DAVID GRUBER (3, GLOWING);
worry: These sharks are BRIAN J. SKERRY / NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC IMAGE COLLECTION (4); BRIANNA GOOCH (SHARK ILLUSTRATIONS)
mostly slurping up tiny
shrimplike plankton about as
small as a few grains of sand.
Whale sharks feed by swim-
ming slowly with their
mouths open and filtering
the tiny plants and animals
out of the water. The largest
fish in the world, whale
sharks can be longer than a
school bus and weigh 50,000
pounds—about four times as
much as an African elephant.
“They’re so big that not
many animals are going to
bother them,” Natanson says.
“So they tend to be very
easygoing sharks.”

••• • A GREAT WHITE
SHARK SWIMS
IN WATERS OFF
OF AUSTRALIA’S
NEPTUNE
ISLANDS.

WATCH A SILLY, SMILEY SHARK VIDEO!
natgeokids.com/june-july

14 NAT GEO KIDS

Green Glowers Sizing Up Sharks

3 Chain Catsharks Check out how these sharks stack up against a 10-year-old kid.
Through your eyes, the chain catshark seems
to have brownish-yellow skin with black chain- Chain catshark 10-
shaped markings. But to another chain catshark 1.5 feet YEAR-
swimming 1,600 to 2,000 feet below the surface, OLD
the fish glows in the dark! Pigments in the sharks’ KID
skin absorb the blue light in the ocean and reflect
it as green. These sharks have special cells in their Bonnethead shark
eyes—called receptors—to see it. Because the 2.5 to 5 feet
glow patterns are different for males and females,
scientists think these shy sharks use this ability Spinner shark
to attract mates.“In that deep, dark environ- 6.5 to 9 feet
ment, the sharks need to be able to find each
other,” Natanson says.

WHAT YOU SEE

WHAT CHAIN CATSHARKS SEE Lemon shark
8 to 12 feet
TO CAPTURE THIS IMAGE, SCIENTISTS BUILT A CAMERA
THAT SEES THE WORLD LIKE THIS SHARK DOES. Great white shark
15 to 20 feet
4 Picky Eaters
Great White Sharks Greenland shark
16 to 21 feet
Sure, great whites have 300
triangular teeth and the ability Whale shark
to smell a drop of blood in 25 32 to 55 feet
gallons of water. But that
doesn’t mean these top preda- TAKE A PERSONALITY QUIZ TO FIND OUT
tors will chomp everything in WHAT KIND OF SHARK YOU’RE LIKE!
their path. In fact, when great natgeokids.com/june-july
whites bite people, they usually
release them. Scientists think 15JUNE | JULY 2020 • NAT GEO KIDS
it could be because humans
aren’t on their menu, unlike
seals, sea lions, and dolphins.
“It’d be like if you picked up a
drink thinking it’s soda, and it
turned out to be coffee—bleh!”
Natanson says. But it might
also be that these curious
sharks are just investigating a
new object the only way they
can: with their mouths!

A GREENLAND 5 Ocean Oldies
SHARK SWIMS Greenland Sharks
BELOW THE
ARCTIC OCEAN If you think your grandpa is old, just wait until
ICE, OFF THE you meet this fish. A Greenland shark swimming
COAST OF through deep, freezing Arctic water today might
CANADA. have been born when George Washington became
the first president of the United States! This
shark species can live for nearly 300 years—and
possibly as many as 500 years. That’s the longest
of any vertebrate(an animal with a backbone).
Experts are still trying to figure out how these
sharks can survive so long, but they think their
icy-cold habitat and seriously slow lifestyle(a
Greenland shark’s heart beats only once every 12
seconds; yours beats about once a second) might
have something to do with their seemingly non-
stop birthday parties.

Sharkskin Superpower

WIN THE BOOK! If you could pet a shark(um, through the water superfast. SPINY DOG-
TRY ONLINE don’t!), its skin would feel Scientists have discovered FISH SHARK
MAY 21-28. smooth when you moved your SCALES AT
natgeokids hand from its snout toward that these overlapping scales 80 TIMES
the tail. But brush your hand also prevent bacteria from ACTUAL SIZE
.com/june-july the other way, and it’ll feel growing on the skin. Why?
like sandpaper. That’s because Bacteria can’t grow without over hospital counters and
a shark’s skin is made up of water, and the scales’ struc- other surfaces to reduce the
tiny overlapping scales that ture prevents water from spread of bacteria. And that
point toward the tail. The collecting behind the scales. helps reduce infections.
shape of the scales reduces That stops bacteria from Thanks, sharks!
drag—the force of the water attaching to the shark’s skin.
pushing back on the shark— The design inspired one com-
allowing the shark to zoom pany to create a film with
microscopic ridges that sticks

7 Airborne Acrobats
Spinner Sharks
Some sharks ambush their prey; others

bump them before going in for a bite. But

only one shark species flies: spinner sharks.

These predators glide beneath a school of

tuna or sardines, eyeing the tasty fish hud-

dled together in a protective ball-like shape.

With a burst of energy, the shark swims

toward the surface with its mouth open, its A SPINNER SHARK PREPARES TO
FLY THROUGH A SCHOOL OF FISH.
slim body twirling through the water like a

ballerina. Score! The shark nabs a fish—but the show’s not over yet. The shark’s

momentum pushes it up to 20 feet out of the water, rotating several times before

splashing back down.(See the pictures on the right.) Now that’s a fin-tastic show! 1 2

16 NAT GEO KIDS • JUNE | JULY 2020 © SAUL GONOR / BLUEPLANETARCHIVE (5); © MASA USHIODA / BLUEPLANETARCHIVE (6); EYE OF SCIENCE / SCIENCE SOURCE (SHARKSKIN); © C & M
FALLOWS / BLUEPLANETARCHIVE (SPINNER SHARK WITH FISH); MATTHEW PAULSON (SPINNING SEQUENCE, ALL); GARY BELL / OCEANWIDE / MINDEN
PICTURES (SAND TIGER SHARK); DOUG PERRINE / MINDEN PICTURES (SAND TIGER SHARK TOOTH); WILDESTANIMAL / GETTY IMAGES (GREAT WHITE)

•• •• • Choose a Chomper
•
Want to know what’s on a shark’s menu? Just take a look at
6 Salad Snackers their teeth! Sharks’ teeth are specially designed for the prey
Bonnethead Sharks that they often hunt.

Bonnethead sharks are leafy-green eating machines. In PLAY Match the shape of the teeth with the
fact, seagrass can make up over half of the bonnetheads’ animal that each species of shark eats.
diet. Scientists aren’t sure if these coastal sharks are try-
ing to snack on the plants, or if they accidentally get a 1 Long, pointy SAND TIGER SHARK
side salad while scooping up shrimp, mollusks, and blue teeth can spear slippery things.
crabs hiding in the seagrass. Unlike almost all other
sharks, which are carnivores and don’t eat plants, bonnet-
heads have a special digestive system that can absorb
nutrients from greens. Hey, bonnethead—you have a leaf
stuck in your teeth!

A BONNETHEAD
SHARK EXPLORES
THE WATERS OF
THE FLORIDA KEYS.

2 GREAT WHITE SHARKS’ sharp, sturdy teeth can
rip into flesh and even break bones of large prey.

3 TIGER SHARKS have curved, serrated
teeth that can act like a can opener.

TOOTH TIME Write your answers in the circles.

GREEN SENELAOEPLRHTAHNERTN
STEUARTLE

34 SAHITLEVLRAERRNINTGIC

BERT FOLSOM / ALAMY (GREAT WHITE TOOTH); WATERFRAME / ALAMY (TIGER SHARK); PHOTON75 /SHUTTERSTOCK ANSWERS: 1. herring, 2. seal, 3. sea turtle.
(TIGER SHARK TOOTH); REINHARD DIRSCHERL / GETTY IMAGES (SEA TURTLE); NIELS POULSEN DK / ALAMY (HERRING);
IMAGEBROKER / JURGEN & CHRISTINE SOHNS / GETTY IMAGES (SEAL). KEVIN SCHAFER (SIFAKA, PAGES 18-19) 17JUNE | JULY 2020 • NAT GEO KIDS

The Verreaux’s sifaka is a type of lemur that lives in Madagascar.
These primates live mostly in trees.

On the ground, these sifakas get around by hopping.
It’s likely that they use their long tails to help them balance as they leap from tree to tree.

»

ANNE JUNGBLUT
LOOKS FOR SOIL
SAMPLES AMONG
THOUSANDS OF KING
PENGUINS ON SOUTH
GEORGIA ISLAND.

goofo meter LAZY » “I was studying the move-
LIONS ment and hunting behavior
of lions in the savanna. When the next morning, the lion paper—something I didn’t
THE SCIENTIST: I found my first subject, he still hadn’t moved. need to spend months in
Rae Wynn-Grant was snoozing. I noticed that Africa to do!
his belly was huge—he’d just “In four months, I found
COOL JOB: eaten a big meal. I watched seven other lions … just lying “I learned that wild ani-
Large carnivore the lion do nothing but sleep around, full of food. I never mals don’t always do things
ecologist for hours until it got dark. arrived in time to see the on my schedule. But at least
And then when I came back behavior I was there to I got to see these predators
THE LOCATION: study. Instead I had to inter- behaving naturally: Lions
Tanzania, a view local people about the definitely spend most of
country in lions’ movements for my their time asleep.”
Africa

SEE PHOTOS OF MORE FUNNY FAILS—FROM ANIMALS! UNFORTUNATELY FOR
RAE WYNN-GRANT,
natgeokids.com/june-july LIONS LIKE THIS ONE
SLEEP OR REST UP TO
20 NAT GEO KIDS 20 HOURS A DAY.

ICE … goofometer SNAKE
POPS! MISTAKE

THE SCIENTIST: THE SCIENTIST:
Anne Jungblut Ruchira Somaweera

COOL JOB: COOL JOB: goofo meter
Environmental Herpetologist
microbiologist
THE LOCATION:
THE LOCATION:
South Georgia Island, Northern Australia care. Then an hour RUCHIRA SOMAWEERA
in the southern HOLDS AN ARAFURA
Atlantic Ocean near » “I was catching snakes so FILE SNAKE IN
Antarctica AUSTRALIA.

» “I study too-small-to-see organisms that live in little pools of I could study their health. later, I woke up to
water on top of glaciers. I have to use special ice shoes, rope,
and an ice ax to climb to collection sites since the ice sheet Volunteers placed the snakes the most horrible smell I’d
has deep cracks that could be deadly. So once I’m finally at the
site, I’m eager to get started. in pillowcase-like bags for ever sniffed. It turns out that
“One time I was so excited to gather as much evidence as
possible and filled my sampling tubes to the top with water the night so we could exam- a Stimson’s python had
and sediment from the glaciers. Even though I’m an ice and
soil scientist, I ignored the fact that water increases by 20 ine them the next day. escaped and crawled into my
percent when it freezes. So when we put all my test tubes into
the freezer for safekeeping, this one totally shattered! Luckily Mosquitoes and ants were warm sleeping bag. I’d rolled
we quickly put the samples in new containers, but that day I
learned to respect science—it’s not going to change for me.” everywhere, and I didn’t over onto it, causing the

want the snakes to be snake to vomit parts of a

uncomfortable overnight. So massive half-digested frog!

I brought the bagged animals “The snake was fine—we

into my insect-proof tent. released it the next day—

“At about 2 a.m., I could feel and now I always check that

something moving around my the snake bags are totally

feet, but I was too tired to tied up.”

SCRATCHY goofometer
CHASE

THE SCIENTIST: Patrícia Medici

COOL JOB: Conservationist

THE LOCATION: Pantanal, Brazil

» “We shot a tranquilizer dart this tapir straight into a sea

at a large male tapir so that of thorns and stickers. Most

we could study its health. of us were wearing pants and

MYSTERY goofometer PALEONTOLOGISTS Sometimes the animal stands long-sleeve shirts, but one
DANIEL DICK(LEFT) still until it falls asleep, but member of the team was in
AND ERIN MAXWELL other times the tapir sprints shorts. After we’d fitted the
LOOK FOR ICHTHYO- off into the forest, and we tapir with a radio collar, we
SAUR FOSSILS IN have to chase after it no realized that the person was
COLOMBIA. matter where it goes. It can bleeding and covered in
be dangerous for the tapir scratches. That day we named
BONE skull, I spotted an unusual

THE SCIENTIST: Daniel Dick bone that everyone else had

COOL JOB: Paleontologist missed. Excited to show off because if it falls asleep in the tapir ‘Bandaid,’ and I’m
my skills, I pulled out a hand-
THE LOCATION: Colombia, held magnifying glass and water, we wouldn’t be able to sure that the shorts-wearing
a country in South America began to describe it—the
bone might be proof that get it out.(An adult tapir can team member now always
» “We were examining an this animal is an entirely
eight-foot-long skeleton of new species! weigh over 500 pounds!) PATRÍCIA remembers to dress for
an ichthyosaur(a huge extinct “So we raced after MEDICI FEEDS a wild chase!”
“I felt my teacher tap me A CAPTIVE
BABY TAPIR
IN BRAZIL.

marine reptile that lived dur- on the shoulder.‘That’s mud,’

ing the time of dinosaurs). It she said. I was so embar-

was my first day in the field, rassed, but science is about

so this was my big chance to learning. And now I’m really

impress the other scientists. good at spotting the differ-

As I knelt to examine the ence between mud and bone.”

ARWYN EDWARDS (JUNGBLUT PROFILE); AGA NOWACK (WITH PENGUINS); CHRISTINE JEAN CHAMBERS (WYNN-GRANT);
TIBOR BOGNAR / GETTY IMAGES (LION) ; RUCHIRA SOMAWEERA (SOMAWEERA PROFILE); NILU GUNARATHNE (WITH SNAKE);
MAX CHIPMAN (DICK PROFILE); JUAN PARRA (DICK RESEARCH); LIANA JOHN (MEDICI PROFILE); MARINA KLINK (WITH TAPIR)

WREILSDCFUIRESE

Brave people face dangerous
blazes to save helpless animals. 

BY JAMIE KIFFEL-ALCHEH

Too weak to run, a starving bobcat limps through
smoky woods. He’s just one of thousands of ani-
mals trying to survive the aftermath of nearly
8,000 wildfires that tore through California in
the summer and fall of 2018.
The most destructive wildfire season in the state’s history,
the blazes destroyed 1.9 million acres of land, or an area
bigger than the state of Delaware. The fires also cut off
power and damaged or destroyed nearly 25,000 structures
across hundreds of towns. Hot, dry weather combined with
high winds caused many of the wildfires(careless humans
also caused a few of them), forcing hundreds of thousands
of people to abandon their homes to seek shelter. Some
people needed rescuing … and so did some animals.

Luckily brave humans across the state pitched in to help
neighbors and animals alike. Read on for five heroic stories
of animal rescues.

BEAR Oregon

Whiskeytown PACIFIC OCEAN 0 NORTH AOTCLEAANNTIC
(Carr Fire) AMERICA

BOBCAT

Paradise
(Camp Fire)

CAT Nevada Utah
California
Paradise
(Camp Fire)

HORSE

Paradise
(Camp Fire)

ALPACAS Arizona Bobcats
AND MINI are named for
HORSE Location their short,
of wildfires bobbed tails.
Malibu in California
(Woolsey Fire) DONYANEDOMAM / ADOBE STOCK (BOBCAT, MAIN); CHELSEA STEIN ENGBERG (TILAPIA TREAT-
MENT); JESSICA BARTLETT / UNIVERSITY PHOTOGRAPHER / CSU CHICO (RELEASE, BOTH)
22 NAT GEO KIDS • JUNE | JULY 2020

BROEBSCCAUTE
‹‹
An injured bobcat searches VETERINARIANS
for prey among blackened faster. The bobcat even gets full of prey for APPLY SKIN FROM
tree stumps but finds acupuncture, a traditional TILAPIA(A TYPE
nothing to eat. It’s been form of Chinese medicine in OF FISH)TO THE
three weeks since the mas- which tiny needles are placed BOBCAT’S PAWS TO
sive Camp Fire destroyed the into the skin to relieve pain. KEEP THEM FROM
cat’s habitat in northern GETTING INFECTED.
California. The underweight After a week of treat-
juvenile won’t survive much ments, the bobcat’s appetite the cat. The cage
longer without food. increases, and he switches
Although from just gruel to having door is opened. The bobcat
bobcats are rarely Luckily a passerby spots birds and mice added to his
seen, they’re the most the cat and calls Sallysue meals.“We knew he was ready steps out and surveys his
common wild cat in Stein, the founder of Gold to be released when he
Country Wildlife Rescue. started trying to escape surroundings. Then he
North America. Stein arranges to have the from his kennel,” Stein says.
cat brought to her facility. sprints up a tall tree and dis-
“When he arrived, we could GOING HOME
see that his paws were appears from view.
singed and he was obviously After 11 weeks of treatment,
hungry,” Stein says.“When we the bobcat is taken to Big “Our goal was to give the
were able to examine him, we Chico Creek Ecological
saw that the pads of his paws Reserve, which hasn’t been bobcat a second chance in
had been burned all the way impacted by the fires and is
to the bone.” Plus, the cat the wild,” Stein says.“It’s
weighed just eight pounds,
about five pounds less than where he belongs.”
the weight of a healthy juve-
nile bobcat. THE BOBCAT
CHECKS OUT HIS
Still, the cat swats at the NEW HOME IN
staff as they try to treat him. BIG CHICO CREEK
“He had a lot of fight left,” ECOLOGICAL
Stein says.“He wasn’t giving RESERVE.
up, and neither were we.”
NEARLY FOUR
HI-TECH MONTHS AFTER
TREATMENT BEING INJURED IN
A FIRE, THE HEALED
Medicine helps make the cat BOBCAT IS ABLE TO
comfortable, but his paws CLIMB TREES AGAIN.
need much more care. The
cat’s rescuers call in veteri- 23
narian Jamie Peyton, who
specializes in animal burns.

First, Peyton gives the
bobcat cold laser therapy,
which exposes the cat’s paws
to a special light that reduces
bacteria on his skin. Then she
suggests a new type of treat-
ment to heal the animal’s
wounds: fish skin. By wrapping
both of the cat’s paws in ban-
dages from tilapia(a type of
fish) skin, they can protect his
paws from getting infected;
plus, the collagen—a kind of
protein—found in the tilapia
might help the wounds heal

BRLEASCCKUBEEAR
‹‹
A one-and-a-half-year-old arrives at the WILDLIFE PROGRAM
bear sits next to a mountain- scene in just a MANAGER JEFF STODDARD
side creek beneath a red sky CARRIES THE TRANQUIL-
clouded by smoke. Unable to IZED BEAR SO SHE DOESN’T
walk, she tries to soothe her HAVE TO WALK ON HER
BURNED PAWS.

burned paws by licking them. few hours.

The bear is just one of thou- “When we arrived, her paws

sands of animals left injured were so burned, they were

or displaced after the Carr crispy,” wildlife officer Peter

Fire burned through some Blake says. The scared bear is

230,000 acres throughout also dehydrated. Senior

northern California. environmental scientist Eric

Wearing smoke masks and Haney tranquilizes the animal

protective clothing, an elec- with a dart so the team can

trical crew enters the forest safely transport her to a

to repair utility poles and wildlife lab for treatment.

restore power to the area. Black
bears also
At first, they see only charred GETTING FISHY come in shades of
blue and cinnamon,
trees. Then they spot the Veterinarians Deana Clifford depending on their
habitat.
bear. Realizing she’s and Jamie Peyton are
Haney says.“But we wanted
injured, the crew calls shocked by how badly to keep her relatively close
to where we found her.” With
the California Excellent burned the bear’s help from a team from the
Department of swimmers, paws are. Like the Bureau of Land Management,
Fish and Wildlife black bears can bobcat in the Camp rescuers find an area that
has plenty of prey and water,
office in Rancho paddle more Fire, the bear cub and is surrounded by cleared
brush to hopefully help
Cordova, nearly than a mile in gets tilapia skin prevent new fires from
spreading.
200 miles away. freshwater. bandages.
Haney stands on top of
Program manager The bear doesn’t the large metal cage con-
taining the bear cub and
Jeff Stoddard decides struggle when they wrap slowly pulls the door open.
The bear cautiously peeks
the bear can’t be left alone. her paws, and she seems to be out before she sprints
toward the woods.“This fire
He gathers a team and in less pain with them on. As was caused by people,”
Stoddard says.“So it’s our
VETERINARIAN the days pass, the bandages responsibility to help the
JAMIE PEYTON(ON remain on, but the animal animals we hurt.”
RIGHT) CHECKS THE doesn’t want to interact with
CUB’S BACK PAWS people or take her medicine.
TO SEE HOW BADLY This is a good sign—it means
BURNED THEY ARE. she’s not becoming too tame
to return to the wild, and
MEET A WILDFIRE PHOTOGRAPHER. she’s getting stronger.
natgeokids.com/june-july
After six weeks, doctors
remove the bandages. The
treatment worked even bet-
ter than they hoped. The
bear’s paws have completely
healed, and it’s time for her
to go home.

BACK TO
THE WOODS

Finding the right spot to
release the bear cub is tricky.
“We didn’t want to put her
back in the same burn area,”

24 NAT GEO KIDS • JUNE I JULY 2020 CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE (MAN HOLDING BEAR); LIOR RUBIN / GETTY IMAGES (BEAR IN TREE); CDFW PHOTO
BY TRAVIS VAN-ZANT (BEAR IN HOSPITAL); BIG HEART RANCH (ALPACAS); RYAN COLEMAN VIA VIRAL HOG (CAT); OFFICER GEE (HORSE)

HWMEOILLRDPEFIRE BMaEliAbu,CCaHlifoBrnRiaAVERY

Check out other‹ Fire spread so quickly to Big
stories of California Heart Ranch that volun-
wildfire rescues. teers had to shuttle pigs, MINI HORSE SHADOW
goats, alpacas, and mini AND ALPACAS LUKE
CPaAraTdiseR, CEalSifoCrnUiaER horses to the closest beach (LEFT)AND THUNDER
to wait for rescue vehicles WAIT ON THE BEACH TO
Firefighter Ryan to get through. But not BE REUNITED WITH
Coleman had just fin- every animal made it there: THEIR CAREGIVERS.
ished putting out a Two alpacas and one mini
small fire when a fluffy horse had been left behind.
gray cat suddenly Ranch employees spread the
appeared among the word after they realized
smoky debris. With what happened, and people
nobody else around, still in the area rushed to
Coleman wasn’t sure safely transport the critters
what to do with the to the beach.“The animals
animal. So he put the and humans who experi-
friendly cat on his enced these fires have been
shoulder and let it through so much,” ranch
ride along with him as director Nora Cohen says.
he finished patrolling “They inspire people.”
the area. Thanks to
Coleman, the feline HParOadRiseS, CEaliHforEniRa OES
made it out of the
burn area and was Officers Randy Law and Jonathan Gee were patrolling a burn area when they discovered
eventually reunited Twinkie the horse alongside an electrical crew, who were checking for downed power lines.
with its family. “I didn’t have any clue how to take care of a horse,” Law says.“But I somehow convinced her
to walk with me.” The officers found a patch of grass and took care of Twinkie for about two
hours until an animal rescue group arrived to return the horse to her home.

OFFICER RANDY
LAW LEADS
TWINKIE AWAY
FROM THE SMOKY
FOREST.

25JUNE I JULY 2020 • NAT GEO KIDS

1 2 3 4

Later this summer, A planet Europa, oneof Earth is the
NASA will send only planet in
isa large body Jupiter’s 79 moons, our solar system
Perseverance—a ofrock, gas, and not named
rover that’slike other material hasa salty, ice- for aGreek
a science lab on covered ocean or Roman
wheels—to Mars. that travels around god or
a star (like our sun). that’s almost 10 goddess.
AN ARTIST’S times deeper
ILLUSTRATION 6 than Earth’s THE ROMAN
SHOWS WHAT THE oceans. GOD JUPITER
ROVER WILL LOOK Jupiter is our
LIKE ON MARS. EUROPA 8
solar system’s
5 biggest planet— 7 The clouds
on Venus rain
Neptune all 7 of the other Uranus has
might have planets could fit sulfuric
inside it. only 2 seasons: acid.
oceans of
liquid diamond. summer
and winter.

Each lasts

42 Earth years.

30 CoolTHINGS
ABOUT
BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPE / SHUTTERSTOCK (STARRY BACKGROUND); NASA / JPL-CALTECH (1, 24); SOLARSEVEN / SHUTTERSTOCK BY KAY BOATNER
(2); NASA / SCIENCE SOURCE / GETTY IMAGES (3); XIRURG / GETTY IMAGES (4, ROMAN GOD), ELVIRA / SHUTTERSTOCK (4,
FRAME), IMAGE DIGITALLY COMPOSED; DAVID AGUILAR (5, 8, 14, 15, 22); EDMUND O’CONNOR / SHUTTERSTOCK (7, SUMMER), 9 10 11 12
KICHIGIN / SHUTTERSTOCK (7, WINTER); NERTHUZ / SHUTTERSTOCK (10); PARAMETER / GETTY IMAGES (11); NASA, ESA, A.
SIMON (GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER) AND M.H. WONG (UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY) (12); NASA (13) Saturn has a solid The Earth moves Because The Great
core about the around the sun at it’s closest Red Spot—
67,000 miles an hour— to the sun,
size of Earth. a hurricane-like
that’s more than 100 Mercury has
13 times thespeed the shortest year storm wider
of our solar system’s
of the fastest jet. planets—about 88 than 3 Earths—

Earth days. has been THE GREAT
RED SPOT
blowing on

Jupiter for

centuries.

The Mars rover Perseverance will help determine 14

if life ever existed on Mars—and help to prepare Oursolar system has
the planet for human exploration.
8 planets:

rockyplanetsMercury,Venus, Earth,
andMars, plusgasgiantsJupiter, Saturn,
Uranus, and Neptune.

26 NAT GEO KIDS • JUNE | JULY 2020

15 16 17

Astronomers believe that Titan, A billion Earths could

a collision with another one of fit inside one of Saturn’s
Saturn’s
planet-size object moons, thousands of rings.
causedtheextreme tilt is larger than
of Uranus’s axis. the planet Mercury. 21

18 19 The surface
temperature on
Pluto used Saturn is the lightest planet
Venus is hot enough
to be our solar in our solar system. It would
system’s ninth tomelt lead.
planet. But in float if dropped in water.
2006, scientists
reclassified it 20

as a dwarf Neptune travels around
planet. It’s the sun inabout 165 years.

too small to be 22 Mercury isonlya little bigger thanEarth’s moon.
a regular planet
but too big to
be just a rock.

PLANETS © NASA / ROGER RESSMEYER / CORBIS / VCG / GETTY IMAGES (16); TRISTAN3D / SHUTTERSTOCK (17); CHARLY FRANKLIN / GETTY
23 Theword“planet”comesfromthe Greek word planete, meaning“wanderer.” 24 IMAGES (21); MARCELCLEMENS / SHUTTERSTOCK (25); NASA / JPL / USGS (26); NASA / JSC / STANFORD UNIVERSITY / SCIENCE
SOURCE (27); NASIDASTUDIO / SHUTTERSTOCK (28); T. LESIA / SHUTTERSTOCK (29); PABLO HIDALGO / DREAMSTIME (30)
25 26 27 Uranus is so far

Earth’s name Olympus Mons— Pieces of Mars have from the sun
comes from the been found onEarth.
the highest peak on that it receives
Middle English A VOLCANO
word “ertha,” Mars—is3 times the ERUPTS IN only 0.3
meaning “ground.” size of Mount ECUADOR, A percent
Everest. COUNTRY IN of the
SOUTH AMERICA. sunlight
29
that Earth

gets.

28 A crater on 30
the surface of
Earth was Mercury iswide The surface ofVenus has more
than 1,600 volcanoes.
created 4.5 enough to fit the
billion years
ago from a mass state of Texas.

of dust and rock.

27JUNE | JULY 2020 • NAT GEO KIDS

AWARDS 2

1 BEST
TRUFFLE
MOST HUNTER
POPULAR

PET

GAMES, Pet Records When it comes to the This pet has a nose for
LAUGHS, number of individual truffles—the pricey
PLAY AND LOTS These critters are all champs! Match pets, this critter is more fungus food that grows
TO DO! popular than dogs, cats, near tree roots. The ani-
each pet below to the award it won on horses, or rabbits: An mal is happy to sniff
estimated 139 million of them out and turn them
these pets live across over to claim a treat
the United States. reward from its human.

the right. ANSWERS ON PAGE 33

BY JULIE BEER AND MICHELLE HARRIS

Match each ??
pet to the
silly award

it won!

LLAMA VEILED CHAMELEON

CAT ?

? -GOAT ?

28 NAT GEO KIDS • JUNE | JULY 2020 FRESHWATER FISH
LIKE THIS BETTA

HARALD TOEPFER / SHUTTERSTOCK (LLAMA); DMITRY_TSVETKOV / SHUTTERSTOCK
(CATS); GERT VREY / SHUTTERSTOCK (GOAT); DANIEL SCHOENEN / IMAGEBROKER /

3 4 5 6 7

WEIRDEST HIGHEST ODDEST CRAZIEST CUTEST
BATH HIKER ALERT COSTUME NAME

This animal takes fur First domesticated by What better way to This animal has hundreds This animal is absolutely
maintenance to a whole people living in the alert your friends that of different looks but adorable. But what’s
other level. It keeps Andes Mountains thou- danger is approaching no need for clothes: It even cuter? When you
clean by bathing in dust, sands of years ago, this than ... to sneeze? An can change its skin color get a group of them
which helps remove oil animal can travel 20 achoo is exactly what from orange and yellow, together, they’re called
from its coat. miles in a single day. Its this animal uses when it to green, to black and a clowder!
wide feet make it an senses danger. blue. It can also form dif-
extremely stable hiker ferent colorful patterns
on rocky terrain. of spots and stripes.

?

LAGOTTO ROMAGNOLO, A BREED OF DOG Animals
should never be
? taken from the wild to be
pets. If you’re considering
getting an exotic pet, be
sure to research where it
came from and how to
properly care

for it.

CHINCHILLA CHECK
OUT
ALAMY (CHAMELEON); RATNAKORN PIYASIRISOROST / GETTY IMAGES (FISH); THE
GROSSEMY VANESSA / ALAMY (DOG); TIERFOTOAGENTUR / ALAMY (CHINCHILLA)
BOOK!

29JUNE | JULY 2020 • NAT GEO KIDS

30 NAT GEO KIDS • JUNE | JULY 2020 LASLEHES USMTIWSI AMLP ETER

HEBAC WOLTE CABEH LABL FODSURBASR BEACH DAZE

LEBUMRAL D E WA E S E KOSLNER NAD These photographs show close-up views of objects
KAMS
you see at the beach. Unscramble the letters to

identify what’s in each picture. Feeling the heat?

ANSWERS ON PAGE 33

TOP ROW (LEFT TO RIGHT): © IMAGE100 / ALAMY; JIM POWELL / IPN; KLETR / SHUTTERSTOCK. MIDDLE ROW (LEFT TO
RIGHT): RON LEVINE / PHOTODISC RED / GETTY IMAGES; KOOSEN / SHUTTERSTOCK; GARY BELL / GETTY IMAGES. BOTTOM
ROW (LEFT TO RIGHT): ALEXANDER RATHS / SHUTTERSTOCK; WENDY CARRIG / GETTY IMAGES; KALABI YAU / SHUTTERSTOCK.

FUNNY
STOP, THIEF!
PLAY MORE FUNNY FILL-IN!
Ask a friend to give you words to fill in natgeokids.com/ffi
the blanks in this story without showing

FILL IN ittohimorher.Thenreadoutloud
for a laugh. BY ALLISTER THOMPSON

For summer break, my family took a trip to a(n) town. I was excited to look for people wearing old-

historical era

fashioned and . My brother only cared about seeing .

article of clothing, plural noun, plural animal, plural

We were by a bank when a man dressed in all out of

verb ending in -ing color past-tense verb

the building. He threw some bags of over his shoulders before off down the

noun, plural verb ending in -ing

street.“Stop, thief!” a(n) yelled behind us. I ran to the next to the

type of job animal, plural

bank and climbed on top of one. My brother tossed me a(n) as I rode off

adverb ending in -ly noun

after the crook. I twirled the object in the air, it around the thief.

verb ending in -ing adjective

I caught him! The gave my brother and me special badges as a thank-you for our

same type of job

help. Officer —I like the sound of that.

your name

JASON THARP

31JUNE | JULY 2020 • NAT GEO KIDS

ART ZONE EXPLORER
ACADEMY

Check out fan art drawn by kids
who’ve read the Explorer
Academy book series!

S Sailor York W Cruz
Aminah R., 14
Tustin, California Coronado

Emmett and X Aiden H., 11
Mesa, Arizona
His Glasses

Wyatt M., 9
Wakefield,
Rhode Island

32 NAT GEO KIDS • JUNE | JULY 2020

Draw a wacky Send us Nat Geo Kids— Include your name, address, phone number, date of birth, a title for your drawing, a statement that
snack. your Snack Art Zone it is your own work, and the name of your parent or guardian. Your parent or guardian must sign a
original P.O. Box 98002 release for publication if your illustration is selected. Submissions become the property of National
drawings: Washington, DC Geographic Partners,and all rights thereto are transferred to National Geographic Partners.Submis-
20090-8002 sions cannot be acknowledged or returned. Selection will be at the discretion of Nat Geo Kids.

CHECK
OUT
THE

BOOK!

S Cruz Is Trapped W Cruz’s Lab
Alaina C., 12 Isaac L., 14
Hancock, Maine Colorado Springs,
Colorado

W Bryndis S Lani’s Daydream Answers
Sadie B., 12 Ruthie W., 9
Kingwood, Texas Henry, Virginia“Pet Records” (pages 28-29):

W Emmett 1. freshwater fish, 2. Lagotto
Garrett S., 8 Romagnolo, 3. chinchilla,
Seymour, Indiana 4. llama, 5. goat, 6. veiled
chameleon, 7. cat.
33JUNE | JULY 2020 • NAT GEO KIDS
“What in the World?”

(page 30): Top row: palm tree,
surfboards, snorkel and mask.
Middle row: swimsuit, beach ball,
seaweed. Bottom row: seashell,
beach towel, umbrella.

Do your part to help prevent single-use
plastic items from reaching the ocean.
Check out ideas here, then go online for
more. natgeokids.com/KidsVsPlastic

CHOOSE NOT Ice cream is a tasty treat for
THIS THAT you, but the plastic spoon and
cup it’s served in can be
EDIBLE STYROFOAM harmful for wildlife. Since
CONE CUP AND plastic utensils and cups are
PLASTIC so lightweight, they often
SPOON blow off of overflowing trash
cans and into creeks, where
WHY? » they can eventually travel to
the ocean.
SHANNON ALEXANDER / SHUTTERSTOCK (CONE); P MAXWELL PHOTOGRAPHY / SHUTTERSTOCK
Once these items break (CUP); BISWARUP GANGULY / ALAMY (EDIBLE SPOON); SOLSTOCK / GETTY IMAGES (CLEANUP)
into smaller pieces, seabirds
sometimes pick up the plastic
and eat it or feed it to their
chicks, which can cause them
to starve since they’re not
getting proper food.

So instead, order your
creamy treat in an edible
container—you can choose
between cake and waffle
cones!

EDIBLE
SPOON!

ALMANAC
CHALLENGE!

Show us the heroic ways CAHLA2ML0A2L1ENNACGE
you’ve reduced plastic
waste in your home, class-
room, or community. Send
us your stories and photos
(along with a permission
form), and your entry may
appear in the Nat Geo Kids
Almanac 2022!

Get details and
official rules online.

natgeokids.com/almanac

34 NAT GEO KIDS • JUNE | JULY 2020

Zeus the hamster lives with his friends at a pet

rescue center. But he thinks he’s a Greek god! Check out

1 what happens when his two worlds collide, then go online
to learn more about the book Zeus the Mighty: The Maze of

the Menacing Minotaur. ZeusTheMighty.com

3

2
4 57

STRIKA ENTERTAINMENT 6

8 10

TH!'Y'Re

8 IOPUH2APA8te,

! STILL DON'T WANT
eATING THeM!

see, DeMeTeR?
ONCe AGAIN, zeus
THI' M!GHTY BReAKS

FRfl' FROM A 5 /..URPY
5rTUATIONI

9

CHECK
OUT
THE

BOOK!

35

AAnwemsomaels!

CRAB-EATING FOX COPYRIGHT © 2019 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PARTNERS, LLC

TEXT BY RUTH A. MUSGRAVE

CRAB-EATING FOX

A A newborn crab-eating fox can

weigh almost as much as a softball.

TRUE. A pup weighs 4 to 5.5 ounces.

B Parents regurgitate (throw up)

dinner for youngsters.

FALSE. Adults bring the pups solid food;
they don’t regurgitate like wolves do.

C If it’s born the first week of school,

a pup wouldn’t start hunting until
spring break.

FALSE. Pups start hunting with their par-
ents when they’re only six weeks old.

D Crab-eating foxes eat only crabs.
FALSE. Crab-eating foxes eat just about
anything, including land crabs, fruits,
insects, turtle eggs, lizards, and birds.

E They live in a dog-eat-fox world.
TRUE. Their predators include dogs,
cougars, jaguars, and caimans. These
foxes live in parts of South America.

THEO ALLOFS / MINDEN PICTURES

AAnwemsomaels!

SCARLET IBIS

SCARLET IBIS

A This giant bird is almost as tall

as an ostrich.

FALSE. A scarlet ibis is only about 22
inches tall. An ostrich is three to four
times taller.

B They might like a mud pie.
FALSE. Using their long bills, scarlet
ibis probe the mud for what they really
like: crabs, snails, fish, insects, frogs,
and small snakes in the marshes where
they live.

C Their scarlet color comes from,

the food they eat.

TRUE. The bright coloration comes from
a substance in the crabs and shrimp in
their diet.

D You can spot these birds in Canada.
FALSE. Scarlet ibis live in South America.

E Ibis are very noisy birds.
FALSE. They are usually quiet. They most-
ly grunt and croak softly.

M. WATSON / ARDEA

AAnwemsomaels!

GHARIAL

GHARIAL

A A gharial grows as long as 24

feet.

TRUE. That is, it’s equivalent to both feet

of 12 10-year-olds, toe to heel. If you use

a ruler, however, a large gharial (related

to crocodiles and alligators) can measure

nearly 20 feet long.

B Mom cradles her babies in her
mouth.

FALSE. Her sharp teeth might make

it a deadly cradle. She does protect young-

sters near the nesting site.

C Gharials are very common.
FALSE. There may be only about 200

left in the wild in India and Nepal.

D If you’re going out to dinner with

a gharial, plan on sushi.

TRUE. Adult gharials eat mostly fish.

E A bump at the end of a male

gharial’s snout is a noise-and-
bubble-maker.

TRUE. They communicate by buzzing

and blowing bubbles.

MICHAEL & PATRICIA FOGDEN / MINDEN PICTURES

AAnwemsomaels!

:_, ._ ,

-""' ,
••
' . ·*
... •• I IV f /.1' .-..t !t \ .- A
.\ :t. -~
..' ~' ~ - ......_ ; \~

DUGONG I ... ·....-. .. .. .. ' _ , ~

'

DUGONG

A A dugong is part whale and

part walrus.

FALSE. It’s not related to either; it is re-
lated to the manatee.

B Dugongs slap their tails on the

water’s surface to communicate.

FALSE. They communicate with vocal
sounds including trills, chirps, and barks.

C A newborn dugong and newborn

human are about the same size.

FALSE. A dugong calf is almost as big
as a 10-year-old kid.

D This uber-predator gobbles its

way through tons of sea creatures.

FALSE. This herbivore prefers a salad of
sea grasses.

E Dugongs are unlikely to hang out

with giant squid.

true. Giant squid like deep water,
but dugongs graze in shallow ocean.
Dugongs live in waters off parts of Austra-
lia, Africa, Asia, and nearby islands.

DOUG PERRINE / NATURE PICTURE LIBRARY

AAnwemsomaels!

AGILE WALLABY

AGILE WALLABY

A Wallabies are kangaroos.
TRUE. Wallabies are small to medium-
size kangaroos. Agile wallabies are one
of the largest kinds of wallaby.

B Dinner with a wallaby is a

mob scene.

TRUE. Groups of wallabies, called mobs,
dine together. Agile wallabies are found
throughout tropical Australia in forests
and grasslands near rivers or streams.

C Wallabies eat only the soft new

shoots from grasses and shrubs.

FALSE. Wallabies will eat every part of
a plant. During the dry season, mobs
even dig up plant roots for food.

D Wallaby parents must watch out

for dingoes.

TRUE. The dingo, a kind of wild dog,
preys on wallabies. So do pythons and
eagles.

E These wallabies are quite clumsy.
FALSE. They are very agile and quick.

DAVE WATTS / NATURE PICTURE LIBRARY

AAnwemsomaels!

DESERT LOCUST

DESERT LOCUST

A Desert locusts are destructive.
TRUE. When swarming, billions can blan-

ket more than 200 square miles, devour-

ing every plant in their path.

B Bugs are also on a locust’s menu.
FALSE. It’s completely vegetarian, eating

millet, rice, sugarcane, corn, and more.

C Desert locusts swarm every year.
FALSE. They swarm only when food

is scarce and they crowd together to eat.

Bumping into each other’s legs causes

them to change to swarm behavior.

D If a teenager and a locust were
the same size, the locust would

eat more than the teen.

TRUE. In swarm mode, a locust can eat its

body weight every day. Teens do not!

E There is a yummy side to locusts.
TRUE. People collect and eat desert

locusts stir-fried, roasted, boiled,

and dried.

STEPHEN DALTON / MINDEN PICTURES

© 2020 Pepperidge Farm, Incorporated.

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