Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2023, issue 101 i Eco Kids Planet Magazine

WE HEART’ ANIMALS Keepers at Highland Wildlife Park in Scotland gave some of its animals special treats on Valentine’s Day. Jack and Sarah, a pair of Arctic foxes, and polar bear cub Brodie got some heart-shaped ice-lolly snacks, plus carrots, apples, hot dogs and peanut butter! NEWSFLASH! Small cleaner fish can recognise their own faces in photos and mirrors! WINNING WORLD! Here’s the winner of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year People’s Choice Award! It’s called World of the Snow Leopard and was taken by Sascha Fonseca from Germany. Sascha’s camera trap caught the big cat in a perfect pose. However cold that thick snow is, the leopard won’t care with that dense coat and furry footpads. The backdrop shows the spectacular mountains of Ladakh in northern India. Camera traps don’t…

FALSE FOSSIL! Hi, Rusty fans! In 2020, a ‘fossil’ was discovered in a cave in Bhopal, India. It was said to be a rare 550-millionyear-old animal. Scientists around the world got totally stoked. They thought it was one of the earliest animals that lived on Earth! It may even have changed what we know about India’s history. Turns out it’s not even that old. It’s just an imprint from a recently rotted beehive! That must have stung after they created such a big worldwide buzz about it. Stung? Buzz? Beehive? Get it? I might use that joke when I’m a top comedian. But I know how they feel. When I was little, I’d often dig up stuff in our back garden that I thought was valuable treasure. I found ancient…

Here’s the last of my runner-up photos. Marina Cano from Spain found Olobor the lion resting one late afternoon in Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Reserve. He’s one of a five-strong group of males in their Black Rock pride. Local Maasai herdsmen had burned the ground around him to encourage new grass growth. (The Maasai are a tribe that lives in parts of East Africa. The reserve was named after them, and they help to conserve and manage the area.) Marina wanted to capture Olobor’s majestic, challenging look against the dark background and lowered her camera out of her vehicle to get an eyelevel shot. Yes, she was safely inside a vehicle, thank goodness! NEWSFLASH! Meat-eating Venus flytrap plants are now at great risk of extinction!…

I’ve been investigating some truly amazing animals for this issue. Imagine if you could become invisible. Or communicate by changing your skin colour. Or tell someone you like them by changing colour… (Er, isn’t that called blushing?) These animals don’t just go red – some can turn all the colours of the rainbow! They change colour to hide from predators, scare rivals or woo mates. How do they do it? Most colour-changers have special organs in their skin called chromatophores. These contain sacs full of pigment and can reveal or hide particular colours. 1. PEACOCK FLOUNDER – masterful ambush predator and speedy colour-changer! Peacock flounders are flat, coral reef fish found in the Atlantic Ocean. They lie camouflaged on the sandy ocean floor; great for ambushing prey and excellent for…

Hi, Rusty fans! As you all know, I’m the world’s top dinosaur expert. (Yes, I AM, Rhona!) So, who better to tell you about the fastest dinosaurs? Most of us experts agree that the ones that used two legs for walking moved the fastest. One called deltadromeus may have been one of the speediest of all. It lived about 90 million years ago, with its long, thin limbs and razor-sharp teeth. Rhona would quickly stop making fun of dinosaurs if one of them came after her! Another of the fastest may have been the compsognathus, which lived 161 million to 146 million years ago. It was only chicken-sized, one of the smallest dinosaurs ever. But it was a fierce predator and most likely ran at about 64 kilometres per hour.…

Animals have inspired lots of speedy inventions. Did you know that a kingfisher helped to design the bullet train? Or that a shark inspired a streamlined swimsuit? Author Etta Kaner’s award-winning books are packed with facts about nature. She loves to tell her readers all about the amazing talents of animals and plants. Here Etta answers our questions about how nature has inspired inventors around the world. Alyssa: When did people first think of the idea to copy nature? It was probably during the Stone Age, when people noticed that fur kept animals warm. This might have inspired humans to slaughter animals so they could use animal fur for warmth. Not great for the animals but a bonus for the humans. Daniel: Is nature better at design than humans? Nature…

Humans hunted wildcats nearly to extinction in parts of Britain back in the 16th century. Most of the surviving ones live in remote parts of northern Scotland. But soon, dozens of these rare animals will be released into the English countryside for the first time in 500 years. Between 40 and 60 will be set free to roam in Devon and Cornwall’s countryside. Wildcats look like our pet cats but are larger and bulkier, and can grow up to twice their size. Hmm, I wonder what our cat Luke Skywhisker would think of them. They’ll hunt and feed on rabbits and rodents. Experts say they’ll be no danger to humans or pets. They’ll live in scrubland (where lots of shrubs grow) by the coast or in dense woodland and will…

WHIZZING WEIRDNESS! FAST FUNGUS? Could a fungus be one of Earth’s fastest flyers? Well, one dung-dwelling fungus is the quickest off the mark! The Pilobolus fungus lives on the poo of cows, horses and other grazing animals. It helps to break the dung down, turning it into plant food, which is great for nature. When it’s ready to create spores to make more fungi, it needs animals to eat and poo them out, too. But the fungus lives in poo, and animals don’t eat where they plop – and who can blame them? So, how does it get its spores to cleaner grass? Like a cannon, it blasts them out at speeds of up to 90 kilometres per hour! The spores reach their top speed in just a few millionths…

Congratulations to our winners! Runners-Up To see more of your amazing entries, go to www.ecokidsplanet.co.uk/animal-builders-competition…

The cheery yellow trumpets of daffodils herald the start of spring, flowering in woodlands and alongside lakes, rivers and roadsides. Wild daffodils have an important role to play, providing an early nectar source for bees waking up from their winter sleep. This colourful daffodil windmill looks very pretty as it turns in the spring breeze. Why not make a bunch? What you need Yellow paper or thin card Orange tissue paper Sticks (one per flower) Green paint Push pins (one per flower) Glue What to do 1. Find a straight(ish) stick and paint it green. Leave it to dry. 2. Make a square measuring approximately 10cm x 10cm from yellow paper or thin card. 3. Fold it corner to corner to make a cross. Cut down along each crease until…

Millie Marotta is a hugely popular illustrator. In Secrets of the Sea, children will discover wondrous wildlife around the world, from the Arctic waters to the balmy Australian coast. Swim with dolphins, narwhals and manatees. Grab your pens and pencils, and bring jellyfish, seahorses and polar bears to life. This new pocket colouring book features over 80 wonderful illustrations in a smaller format to colour in. It is perfect for colouring on the go. RRP £5.99 Visit Millie at www.milliemarotta.co.uk. How to submit your entries: Email a photo of your drawing to win@ecokidsplanet.co.uk, or send it to Eco Kids Planet, 41 Claremont Road, Barnet, EN4 0HR. You can add any description directly on your drawing or send it via email. Your entry must arrive before 10th April 2023. Make sure…