Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2020 i National Geographic Kids

That means you! You recycle every chance you get. You sip through a reusable straw instead of a single-use plastic one. And you harass your parents when they don’t do the same thing—all to help protect the Earth and everything that lives on it. But animals still need your help. More than 30,000 species are threatened with extinction, and it’s up to all of us to save them. That’s why to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, National Geographic and Disney are protecting 50 at-risk animals. A few of them are on this page; turn the page to meet more. Then go online to get more information about these critters, tips on how to help them, and even details about how your family can donate money to protect endangered…

JUMPING DOG Dogs love to leap for balls and treats, but over a jump rope? Geronimo the border collie mix skipped 91 times over a jump rope—the most skips by a dog in one minute. Owner Samantha Valle took five weeks to teach the dog the trick. Turns out Geronimo is multitalented. He also holds the record for the most double-Dutch-style jump-rope skips(128!) in one minute. GIANT GNOME Howard the garden gnome is a little big to stand in a flower bed. In fact, he’s taller than a giraffe! At nearly 26 feet tall, Howard is the largest garden gnome on record. Residents of Vancouver Island, Canada—where Howard has been located for more than 20 years—can spot the gnome from miles away. LOTS OF T-SHIRTS Talk about a layered look.…

A family of golden lion tamarins is on the move. With two babies on his back and his mate beside him, the father tamarin reaches for a branch in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest. Just a few years ago, this land was a treeless cattle pasture. But conservationists knew that if more forest was lost, then the golden lion tamarins—which live wild nowhere else on Earth—would be gone too. DISAPPEARING FORESTS The Atlantic Forest was once about the size of Egypt. But in the 1500s, European traders and settlers started cutting the trees to build ships and make room for settlements—and the forest clearing didn’t stop. Over the past century, farmers cut down more trees to make way for sugarcane, coffee, and cattle farms until the forest was less than 10 percent…

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 THIS NOT THAT WHY? Plastic straws might seem like a small part of the plastic pollution problem, but they can make big trouble for wildlife when they’re blown into creeks or rivers and eventually end up in the ocean. A viral video showed rescuers working for nearly 10 minutes to pull just one plastic straw out of the nose of an olive ridley sea turtle—ouch! So instead, ask your favorite restaurant to provide paper straws, bring your own reusable option, or just skip the straw altogether! PICK YOUR PERFECT STRAW! 1 I don’t want to buy a new straw. HOLLOW DRY PASTA 2 I want something…

We know how much you care about animals. But things like climate change, habitat loss, and pollution are threatening critters around the world—and Earth’s overall health. Luckily humans are working hard to give our planet a better future. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. On April 22, more than a billion people will take part in activities to make the world a healthier place to live for humans and animals. That’s why Nat Geo Kids has created this special Save the Animals issue. The next five articles show how caring people have helped animal species in trouble come back from the brink of extinction. Plus you’ll get tons of tips on how you can protect other animals that still need our help—on Earth Day and every other…

The manatee calf flips and tumbles beside her mother in the clear, warm water of Blue Spring State Park near Orange City, Florida. Tourists snap photos from a platform nearby. Conservationists are excited to see the mother manatee—named Annie—with her newborn, called Naui(NOW-ee). Just a few decades ago, as few as 14 manatees swam through these freshwater springs, and scientists worried that these marine mammals might disappear from Florida forever. MANATEE EMERGENCY Before European settlers arrived in the United States, up to 10,000 manatees lived off the coast of Florida. But the settlers hunted the slow-moving animals for their meat and fat, which they used for lamp oil, until only a few hundred were left. By the mid-20th century, the hunting had stopped, but the remaining manatees faced new threats.…

The gray wolf pads along a forest edge and cautiously sniffs the ground. His movements trigger a trail camera, which snaps a photo of the animal as he crosses the invisible state line that divides Oregon and California. The lone wolf, nicknamed Journey, is on a quest to find a mate. Journey’s, well, journey doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it is: He’s perhaps the first wolf to enter California in nearly a hundred years. HUNTED WOLVES Some two million gray wolves once roamed throughout North America. But in the early 1800s, settlers moving westward across what’s now the United States cleared areas of land for ranching and farming. That meant the wolves didn’t have as much natural prey like bison and elk, so they ate livestock instead. Over…

AMUSEMENT PARK RIDE Buckle up and take a ride through Nat Geo Kids readers’ imaginations. Answers “Green Scene” (page28): Litter is shown in yellow, recycling and compost bins are blue. “What in the World?” (page34): Top row: zebra, flamingo, giraffe. Middle row: elephant, mandrill, chameleon. Bottom row: leopard, tortoise, African wild dog. Draw your favorite rainforest animal. Send us your original drawings: Nat Geo Kids—Rainforest Art Zone P.O. Box 98002 Washington, DC 20090-8002 Include your name, address, phone number, date of birth, a title for your drawing, a statement that it is your own work, and the name of your parent or guardian. Your parent or guardian must sign a release for publication if your illustration is selected. Submissions become the property of National Geographic Partners, and all rights thereto…

Yukon Territory, Canada When a momma grizzly bear and her nearly full-grown cub spotted a metal road sign, the pair could bearly contain their excitement. The two stood up on their hind legs and rubbed their backs and faces against the pole like they were scratching bear-size itches! But the two probably weren’t itchy, says Tom Smith, a bear biologist at Brigham Young University in Utah. “Bears use these scratching behaviors to lay down their scent,” he says. “It tells other bears that live there that these two are nearby, which can help bears avoid fights or find mates.” Bears living in forested areas often leave their scent on tree trunks. But in the treeless Canadian tundra, grizzlies spread their odor on boulders, muddy areas, and human-made objects like buildings…

A two-year-old giant panda sniffs the air and cautiously steps out from a crate onto the grass in China’s Liziping Nature Reserve. Named Zhang Xiang(pronounced JAHNG shang), or “thoughtful one” in Mandarin (a Chinese language), the young panda is the first ever captive-born female panda to be released into the wild. If she can make it on her own in this forest reserve, she’ll prove her entire species might be able to thrive too. PANDA PROBLEMS Giant pandas once roamed throughout the cool mountainous forests of China, Myanmar, and Vietnam. But as the human population grew, hunting and logging took a toll on the panda population. Soon they were living on roughly one percent of their former range. When the World Wildlife Fund completed the first count of wild pandas…

A southern white rhinoceros calf playfully taps its snout against its sleepy mother in South Africa’s Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park. The mother and her baby are a special sight. Just over a hundred years ago, scientists thought these rhinos had gone extinct. NO MORE RHINOS? Southern white rhinos once grazed in the tall grasslands of southern Africa, but beginning in the 1800s, European settlers hunted the rhinos for sport. “These rhinos aren’t particularly aggressive, and they gather out in the open in groups,” says Susie Ellis, director of the International Rhino Foundation. “Unfortunately, this makes them easy targets for hunters.” By the late 1800s, experts believed that these rhinos had been hunted to extinction. RHINO REBOUND But around 1895, scientists found something incredible: a group of about 50 southern white rhinos living…

KNOCK, KNOCK. Who’s there? Howl. Howl who? Howl you feeling today? YOU’VE GOT TO BE JOKING … Q Which dogs live in the Big Apple? A New Yorkies. Q What did the dog bring on her camping trip? A A pup-up tent. Q How did the flea get from one dog to the other? A It itchhiked. Q What’s the biggest problem with corgi jokes? A They’re too short. CHECK OUT THE BOOK!…