Endangered Animals
Welcome to Greentimes JR: Endangered Animals! In this issue we will bring you into the exciting world of endangered animals. What are endangered animals? They are animals whose population is so small that they are at risk of becoming extinct, or completely gone from earth! From Giant Pandas in China, to Polar Bears in the Arctic, to Chimpanzees in Africa, we will tell you all about how endangered animals struggle to survive and how animals in general live and grow.
Excited about your adventure? Well then, I won’t keep you any longer, read on!
By Araña Pequeña
Learned and Instinctive Behaviors
By Kim Win
What are learned behaviors? Learned behaviors are skills that
are taught to animals. For example, some learned behaviors that you have as a human are
tying your shoes, reading, and writing. An example of a learned behavior in another animal
is when chimpanzees make their own tools. Did you know that chimpanzees “fish” for
termites? They do! Chimpanzees use sticks to dig into the ground where termites live.
After the termites crawl onto the stick the chimpanzees take it out of the ground and
eat the termites. Some chimpanzees use rocks as tools to crack open nuts too.
Animals also have instinctive behaviors. These are skills that animals naturally have that do not have to be taught to them. Human babies show many instinctive behaviors, like crying when they are hungry or hurt. An example of an instinctive behavior in chimpanzees is self grooming. Without an older chimpanzee telling them to, young chimpanzees know that they need to keep tiny parasites and insects away.
Do you know much about chimpanzees? There are several kinds of chimpanzees, and most of them are endangered species. They live in Africa in thick tropical forests, but you can also find them in woodlands, bamboo forests, swamps and open savannahs. A chimp’s greatest threat for survival is the destruction of its habitat. People destroy their homes by logging and using the land for farming. In many nations in Africa the chimpanzee is also hunted for food and for medicinal uses. Little chimpanzees are also captured for export (selling them to other countries) for research. Small chimpanzees are usually taken by shooting their mother, and many die from stress and inhumane conditions during the capture and move.
You’ve learned about some of the behaviors of chimpanzees and humans, but all animals have instinctive and learned behaviors. The next time you see a baby or a puppy think about what behaviors they automatically have and what you will have to teach them. Animals sure do learn a lot!
How Does The Polar Bear Adapt To Its Environment?
By Ada Lio
Have you ever seen a Polar Bear in the wild? Most likely not, because
Polar Bears only live around the North Pole and in the far northern areas of the Arctic!
Those are some of the coldest regions on earth, where temperatures can be as low as -50°F.
How do Polar Bears stay warm, keep safe and find food in such bitter cold? Good question!
Over time, Polar Bears have developed physical features to help them survive in the harsh
environmental conditions of its habitat, or the area it calls home. These changes
are called adaptations. Adaptations happen over thousands and thousands of years.
So, how have Polar Bears adapted to the cold weather? A Polar Bear’s thick, white fur keeps its body warm. Under the dense creamy fur is the polar bear’s black skin, which absorbs heat from the sun instead of reflecting it away from the skin. And a layer of stored fat under the skin provides even more warmth for the polar bear’s body. The soles of its feet are covered with pads of fur, which help the animal to walk on slippery ice.
Polar Bears’ adaptations also help them to find food and keep safe in their habitat. Their white fur blends in with the snowy background. The white fur serves as an invisible cloak as a Polar Bear creeps quietly toward its prey. In addition, an adult male can run up to 35 miles per hour and swim as fast as 6 miles per hour. This excellent hunter also has a keen sense of smell. It can sniff seal dens covered by snow and ice from 10 miles away! Polar Bears are certainly well adapted to their environment.
Sadly, there are only about 22,000 Polar Bears left in the wild. If the y are so well adapted to this harsh climate, why are there so few left? Global warming, pollutants from around the world, hunting, and increased human activity in their habitat all cause health and reproductive problems for. The Polar Bear is currently considered a potentially threatened species.
Classification of Animals
By Lisa Liu
The Giant Panda of Asia is an endangered species. There are only
about 1,600 Giant Pandas alive, most of which are located in the SiChuan, Gansu, and
Shanxi provinces of China. They are easily recognized by their white and black fur that
covers their entire body. The Giant Panda is a mammal. Mammals are warm blooded
, which means that they can maintain a constant body temperature even when the climate
around them is very hot or very cold. (When you are sick, you have your temperature taken
to see if you have a fever. You are warm blooded.) All mammals are vertebrates.
Vertebrates are animals that have backbones. Also, mammals have hair or fur, and
the females of most mammal species bear live offspring (instead of laying eggs) and
produce milk as food for their babies.
Giant Pandas live in forests with lots of bamboo because that is their main food source. However, a lot of their habitat is being destroyed and the pandas cannot survive in other locations. The Giant Panda is currently an endangered species. In addition to their habitat being destroyed, Giant Pandas are endangered because they are illegally hunted.
If pandas are mammals, what are other animals that don’t share the same characteristics, such as having hair or fur? I bet you’ve seen a reptile before. Some examples of reptiles are snakes, lizards and alligators. They are vertebrates too. Reptiles have tough, scaly skin and almost all of them lay eggs. They are also cold blooded. This means that the temperature of their body is similar to the temperature of the climate around them. If the hot sun is shining on them they are hot. If the weather is cold, then their body temperature is also low.
There are many different types of animals, but I’ll tell you about one more. If you’ve ever seen a frog or a salamander then you’ve seen an amphibian. Amphibians are vertebrates with moist skin. When amphibians are first born as eggs in the water, and they grow up to be able to live on land.
There are many more kinds of animals, such as crustaceans (crabs and lobsters), mollusks (clams and oysters), arachnids (spiders) and insects. Your teacher can tell you more about these fascinating creatures. Now you know how to identify and classify some kinds of animals! Can you identify whether the animals in your backyard are mammals, reptiles or amphibians?
