DK - Big Babies, Little Babies

While I’m a baby, Mom
keeps me tucked away
from the herd in a shady
place. She’s never far away,
though, and comes back
often to feed me.

take turns looking after each other’s babies. 49

who, who?

The great gray owl is one of the
biggest owls in the world. When
it opens its wings, it’s about
as wide as you are
with your arms
stretched out.

I am an owlet. Both my
parents look after me.
If a bear or wild cat
comes near, Mom and
Dad chase it away.

50

Just born
A mother owl lays up to
five eggs at a time. She
sits on them so they stay

warm. When the eggs
hatch, the babies

(owlets) are covered
in fluffy down.

Great gray owls
live in forests. They
don’t build nests—they
move into nests that
other birds don’t use

any longer.

Young owls stay in the nest until they’re about four weeks old. Sometimes
they tumble onto the ground and their parents guard them there.

51

get moving...

Bison are sometimes called
buffalo. Females live in large
herds of up to 60 with their babies
(called calves)—they protect

them fiercely from danger.
Males live alone or in
small groups.

When I was first born,
Mom kept me away from
the rest of the herd. We
all live together now, but
Mom will take care of me
until I’m about a year old.

52

Bison get rid of
ticks by rubbing
themselves against trees.
Sometimes, if lots of
animals use the same tree,
the bark gets worn away

completely.

What’s for dinner?
Bison feed on grasses, herbs, and
shrubs. In the winter, they dig in
the snow with their hooves to get
at plants underneath.

Bison calves are a light reddish- Both males and females have humps on
brown when they’re babies— their shoulders and horns on their heads.
they don’t get dark coats until Calves grow both at about two months.
they’re around three months old.

53

I’m the dad. Mom leaves home on
her eggs as soon as they’re the reef
laid, then I guard them
until they hatch into Clown fish live in coral reefs
babies, called fry. This among the tentacles of a sea
takes around 10 days. anemone. Moms lay their eggs
there—one mom can lay
thousands of eggs.

54

When they first
hatch, all clown fish
are male. Later on,
some of them turn into
females so they can

lay eggs.

Taking care
While Dad guards the eggs, he fans
them with his fins. This helps them to get
enough oxygen and stops plants and
animals from settling on them.

Clown fish eggs are about the same size as peas.
They look like shiny orange bubbles in the
sea, but they fade as the eggs develop.

55

I can see you... My pups cry out when
they’re hungry. The
Meerkats live in groups of up to ones that cry the
40 that are called mobs. They build loudest usually get
big underground burrows, the most food.
where they sleep and raise
their babies. At all times,
sentries stand nearby and
watch for danger.

A meerkat mom usually
has three or four babies,
called pups. With help
from other adults in the
mob, she looks after
them until they’re
around four months old.

56

The dark
band of fur around a
meerkat’s eyes cuts glare.
Unlike humans, a meerkat
can look into the sun—
very useful for spotting
birds that want to swoop

down and eat it.

Home, sweet hole
A meerkat burrow
has several round
entrances. To dig into
the ground, meerkats
use their sharp claws.
While they’re working,
they can close their ears
so no dirt gets inside.

57

hold on tight! My mom will carry me on
her back until I’m about
Pangolins are the only mammals that three months old. When I
have scales. Pangolin moms have one was born, my scales were
baby at a time, and they look after it soft, but they hardened up
for around five months. It will be a after a couple of days.
couple of years before the baby is
fully grown.

58 A pangolin’s long snout helps

Safe inside
Pangolins move slowly.

When they sense
danger, they roll into a

ball with hard, sharp
scales on the outside. If a

baby is threatened, its
mom tucks it under her
tummy, then rolls herself

around it.

it find yummy insects to eat. 59

hop to it!

Rockhopper penguins live in Antarctica,
near the South Pole. Penguins are birds,
but they can’t fly—rockhoppers are
good at jumping over stones though,
which is how they got their name.

Rockhopper
moms usually lay two
eggs, and the parents take
turns sitting on them. For
the first few weeks after the
babies (chicks) hatch, Mom
goes for food, while Dad

stands guard.

60

I’ll stay with Mom and All together now
Dad until I’m about two Rockhoppers raise their families in
months old and my baby a huge colony. All the babies stay
feathers have disappeared. together so they’re warm and safe.
Then I’ll be ready to take Parents know their own chicks’
to the water. calls, so they can find them.

Adult rockhoppers have bright head
feathers that look like bushy
eyebrows. Babies are covered
with fluffy gray down.

61

Glossary

When you’re learning about animal babies, it helps to know some special
words. Here are the meanings of some words you’ll find in this book.

algae tiny, simple forms down the soft, short, mammal an animal
of life that live in water. fluffy feathers on a baby with fur that drinks
bird, or on the chest of its mother’s milk when
burrow a hole or an adult. Down keeps it’s a baby.
a collection of the bird warm.
underground tunnels mating when a male
where animals live. grooming when an and female come
animal cleans its fur or together to produce
camouflage special another animal’s fur. babies.
color or markings
that blend with the hatching when a baby prey an animal that’s
surroundings so an animal breaks out of the hunted for food.
animal is hard to see. egg it has grown in.
tentacle one of the long,
colony a large group herd a group of animals thin arms on some sea
of animals that lives that travels together. creatures, such as sea
together. anemones and squid.
instinct a natural
feeling animals have tick a tiny spiderlike
from birth (rather than creature that lives in
something they learn) animal fur.
that helps them to
survive.

62

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63

Index echolocation 15 pup
elephant 42-43 hyena 22-23
albatross 6-7 meerkat 34-35
algae 30 fish 21, 54-55 seal 40-41
flamingo 30-31
bear fry, clown fish 54-55 reptiles 8-9, 21, 38-39
brown 44-45 rhinoceros 32-33
polar 28-29 giraffe 48-49
sea anemone 54
birds 6-7, 16-17, 20-21, 24, hatchlings 8-9 sea otter 34-35
26-27, 30-31, 50-51, 57, hyena 11, 22-23, 33 seal 40-41
60-61 shrimp 30
insects 24 snakes 24
bison 52-53
boar, wild 36 kitten ticks 53
buffalo 36, 52-53 cheetah 10-11 tiger 33, 36-37
tortoise 38-39
calf lion 11, 33
bison 52-53 Dorling Kindersley would like
dolphin 14-15 mammals 4-5, 10-11, 12-13, to thank Wendy Horobin,
elephant 42-43 14-15, 18-19, 21, 22-23, Deborah Lock, and Alexander
giraffe 48-49 24-25, 28-29, 32-33, 34-35, Cox for editorial help.
moose 12-13 36-37, 40-41, 42-43, 44-45,
rhinoceros 32-33 46-47, 48-49, 52-53, 56-57,
58-59
cheetah 10-11
chick marsupials 24-25
meerkat 56-57
flamingo 30-31 monkey
ostrich 26-27
penguin 60-61 macaque 18-19
clown fish 54-55 silver leaf 4-5
coral reef 54-55 moose 12-13
crocodile 8-9
cub opossum 24-25
brown bear 44-45 ostrich 26-27
polar bear 28-29 owl, great gray 50-51
tiger 36-37
pangolin 58-59
deer 36 penguin, rockhopper 60-61
dolphin 14-15 pig 46-47
duck 16-17 piglets 46-47
duckling 16-17

eagle, bald 20-21
eaglets 20-21