EK Vol 38 Nature & YOU!

Which animal are you?

CAPS FOR TEACHERS

Banded mongoose are highly sociable animals that live in packs. When looking for food they each enjoy their own tasty treats, but stay in the same area. They chirp quietly every few seconds to tell each other where they are. They call loudly to warn

You can learn a lot about an animal by sitting quietly, listening, and watching what it is doing. Take a look at these cool creatures doing their thing – which are you most like? Are you a combination? There is no “one way” to be... just be yourself! We all have different talents and strengths, and these should be explored and celebrated.

Intermediate (Natural Sciences & Technology); Senior (Natural Sciences & Life Skills)

when danger is near. Safety in numbers is their approach!

Take your time to watch an animal’s behaviour and you’ll find that creatures great and small can be fascinating. Animals are all different. That’s what makes each creature special.

Suni are shy, secretive and wary little antelope, not often seen – so it’s a real treat to spot them! They appear briefly at dawn and dusk to feed, but are mostly active at night. They live alone or in pairs, in dry woodland thickets. Suni will freeze if disturbed, then jump away, vanishing into the thick bush, like magic...

Chorister robin-chat are songbirds that mimic many other birds’ calls, including African crowned eagles. Each individual imitates a different combination of calls. They are so creative that they can even learn to sound like frogs, humans whistling, dogs barking and car alarms!

Pangolin look tough but are really quite sensitive. Their upper body is covered in horny scales. When frightened, pangolin roll head first into a tight ball that is difficult to force open. That’s a clever way to protect themselves! A mother pangolin will protect her baby by curling her scaly body round it.

Blacksmith lapwing chicks hatch with a covering of down feathers, so don’t need their parents’ help to keep warm. They hatch with their eyes open, walk out of the nest within hours, and feed themselves soon after. They are very independent, which helps these chicks survive because they nest on the ground.

Pangolin are the only mammals covered in scales made of keratin – the same stuff in our fingernails and in rhino horns. Pangolin scales are sought after in traditional Chinese medicine. An estimated 100 000 pangolin are illegally hunted in Africa and Asia and sold on the Asian black market every year! This makes the pangolin the world’s most trafficked wild mammal.

Blacksmith lapwing chicks are precocial , which means they leave the nest on foot soon after hatching, but stay close to their parents until they can fly. Ducks and chickens are also precocial.

Altricial chicks are born with their eyes closed and without feathers, so they are ‘helpless’ and must stay in the nest for protection until they can fly. Eagles are altricial.

Tawny-flanked prinia are active, tiny brown birds. They dash between bushes, and raise and flick their long, narrow tails as they hop around. They call ‘dzeep-dzeep-dzeep’ over and over as they flit from branch to branch, flicking their tail as they call. It’s amazing how much energy they have!

18 EnviroKids Vol. 38(2), Winter 2017

EnviroKids Vol. 38(2), Winter 2017 19

Words Charmaine Oxtoby, Illustrations Esme Walker

Words Charmaine Oxtoby, Illustrations Esme Walker