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14
IN THIS ISSUE
Jay Sumner
Senior Editor, Science Catherine D. Hughes
Editorial Andrea Silen, Kay Boatner, Associate Editors;
Nick Spagnoli, Copy Editor;
Rose Davidson, Special Projects Assistant
Photo Kelley Miller, Senior Editor; Lisa Jewell,
Hillary Leo, Editors
Art Eileen O’Tousa-Crowson, Art Director; Kathryn Robbins,
Designer; Stephanie Rudig, Associate Digital Designer;
Rachel Kenny, Special Projects Assistant
Administration Allyson Shaw, Editorial Assistant
Production David V. Showers, Director
Online Anne A. McCormack, Director COOL
International Magazine Publishing PHOTO
Yulia Petrossian Boyle, Senior Vice President
Manufacturing
CONTEST!
Phillip L. Schlosser, Senior Vice President, p. 6
Production Services; Gregory Storer, Director;
Robert L. Barr, Manager; Neal Edwards, Imaging
PUBLISHED BY THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY
President and CEO Gary E. Knell
President, Publishing and Digital Media Declan Moore
Living With Leopards
Executive Vice President and Worldwide Publisher
Check out the clever ways people coexist with these big cats.
Claudia Malley
Chairman of the Board John Fahey
Finance John J. Patermaster, Jr., Director of Finance;
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Bear Versus Fish
A wildlife photographer shares his daring techniques for
Consumer and Member Marketing Elizabeth Safford,
Vice President; John MacKethan, Vice President, Retail 18 capturing images of hungry brown bears.
Sales; Mark Viola, Renewals and Planning Director
Market Services Tracy Hamilton Stone, 20
Research Manager
Advertising Production Manager Callie Norton Animal Myths Busted!
Marketing Hannah August, Marketing Director Get the scoop on five superweird tales.
Publicity Anna Irwin, Communications Director;
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Detroit Karen Sarris (248) 368-6304; Discover the surprising characteristics of this unfishy fish.
West Coast Eric Josten (310) 734-2221
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KIDS cannot accept liability for loss or damage. Find out what happens when wild animals make themselves at home in the city.
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written permission is prohibited. NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC KIDS and Yellow Border:
Registered Trademarks ® Marcas Registradas. Printed in the U.S.A. ISSUE 442
 BY JULIE BEER AND MICHELLE HARRIS

Check out these

outrageous facts.
Swiftlet birds’
nests are made Moondust
smells
entirely from
saliva. like burned
gunpowder.

Some cows make best

friends with other
cattle in their herd.

A TOY CAR
dipped in GOLD A
and covered in
JEWELS sold for NEW WALKING GET MORE!
$60,000. SKYSCRAPER
USES
200
GOES UP
EVERY
MONTH IN
CHINA. MUSCLES.
Book and App

3
SITTIPONG / SHUTTERSTOCK (NOTEPAD); © ANIMALS ANIMALS /
SUPERSTOCK (COWS); © FRED PROUSER / REUTERS / CORBIS (TOY CAR) NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC KIDS
 You
You could
could win
win aa Nat
Nat Geo
Geo
Costa
Costa Rica
Rica Family
Family Adventure
Adventure
and
and aa trip
trip to Washington, D.C.!
to Washington, D.C.!
Starting August 1, 2014, you can upload
Photograph pets,
zoo your photo contest entries online.
animals. kids.nationalgeographic.com/photo-contest/
critters, or wild

Click pics of thing

s
that are funny or
odd.

Wildd
Vacation
Wil
DARE to
EXPLORE

Take photos of your

Capture images of vacation travels.
the great outdoors.

Entries must be postmarked

COOL PRIZES
One grand-prize winner will be selected from the four
first-place winners in this United States contest. The
grand prize is a seven-day Costa Rica Family Adventure
for two provided by National Geographic Expeditions. The
prize includes hotel accommodations, activities, meals,
and round-trip airfare.
Four first-place winners (one for each category) will win a 20.1-megapixel
digital camera; an 8GB memory card; a copy of the books 100 Things to Do
Before You Grow Up, Weird But True: Ripped from the Headlines, the National
Geographic Kids Cookbook, and Mission: Polar Bear Rescue; and will be entered
into the Worldwide National Geographic Society International Photography
Contest for Kids for a chance to win the international grand-prize trip. The
international grand-prize winner (selected from first-place winners around
the world) will win a five-day, four-night trip to Washington D.C., plus a
special tour of National Geographic Society headquarters.
Four second-place winners (one for each category) will win a
16.1-megapixel digital camera; an 8GB memory card; and
a copy of the books 100 Things to Do Before You Grow Up and
Weird But True: Ripped from the Headlines.
by October 15, 2014,
so start clicking!
Go online for official rules, cool photo galleries of
contest entries, and videos with photography tips.
kids.nationalgeographic.com/photo-contest/
IMPORTANT ENTRY INFORMATION
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. MANY WILL ENTER; FEW WILL WIN. Official Rules
available at: kids.nationalgeographic.com/photo-contest/. Open to legal
residents of the United States ages 6 to 14 on October 15, 2014. Employees
of Sponsor National Geographic Society and related parties are ineligible.
Online Entries must be received by 11:59 p.m. eastern time on October 15,
2014. Mail-in Entries must be postmarked by October 15, 2014, and received
by October 22, 2014. Limit one entry per person per Category. Entry must
comply with Entry Requirements described in Official Rules. Four (4) First
Prizes (one per category) (ARV: $230 USD each): a 20.1-megapixel digital
camera; an 8GB memory card; a copy of 100 Things to Do Before You Grow
Up, Weird But True: Ripped From the Headlines, the National Geographic
Kids Cookbook, and Mission: Polar Bear Rescue; and automatic entry into
the Worldwide National Geographic Society International Photography
Contest for Kids (Official Rules at kids.nationalgeographic.com/photo
-contest/). Four (4) Second Prizes (one per category) (ARV: $170 USD
each): a 16.1-megapixel digital camera, an 8GB memory card, and a copy
of 100 Things to Do Before You Grow Up and Weird But True: Ripped From
the Headlines. One Grand Prize (ARV: $9,000 USD): a trip to Costa Rica
for two between June and July 2015. Odds of winning depend on number
of entries received per Category and skill of entrant. VOID WHERE
PROHIBITED BY LAW.

6
© BLICKWINKEL / ALAMY (AMAZING ANIMALS); © IMAGEBROKER / ALAMY (WEIRD BUT TRUE); STEVEGEER /
AUGUST 2014 VETTA / GETTY IMAGES (GET OUTSIDE); © OLEKSIY MAKSYMENKO PHOTOGRAPHY / ALAMY (WILD VACATION)
 MONEY!
ADVERTISEMENT

ALL
ut
abboout
A
BY KRISTIN BAIRD RATTINI

A Chinese
ANCIENT GREEKS BELIEVED emperor had his
THAT PLACING A COIN own calligraphy
IN A DEAD PERSON’S engraved on many of
MOUTH WOULD PAY FOR the coins minted
THE FERRY RIDE TO during his reign.
THE AFTERLIFE.

HOMIES
One tribe in what’s now the
Democratic Republic of the Congo
used strips of a fabric called

HELP
raffia as currency until the 1950s.

my
The U.S. Founding thoughts

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Fathers objected to the way more
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THE NAME OF A
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BRITISH MUSEUM (RAFFIA, CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY); MICHAEL DUVA / GETTY
IMAGES (U.S. COINS); © RSOOLL / DREAMSTIME (PENNY); MPI / STRINGER /
GETTY IMAGES (PORTRAIT), © WINTERLING / DREAMSTIME (FRAME), IMAGE
DIGITALLY COMPOSED; JOE PEPLER / REX USA (MONOPOLY MONEY); KELLEY
MILLER / NGS STAFF (PIGGY BANK) 7
 DARE to BY C.M. TOMLIN

EXPLORE
Environmental anthropologist Kenny Broad
dives into underwater caves to study how
these mysterious ecosystems impact
people. Here he tells NG KIDS about a
surprise standoff he had with a shark
while on an expedition.

“O
nce as I was emerging from a dark and twisting underwater cave off of
the Bahamas, I found a reef shark only a few feet away, blocking my exit.
These guys aren’t aggressive. The beautiful animal was just hanging out in
the cool water currents coming from inside the grotto. I didn’t want to disturb
it, so I remained where I was and we just stared at each other. Finally I gently
slid my hand beneath its belly and slowly moved it to the side. Then I swam out.
“My job involves studying underwater caves. Some of these are out in the
ocean. Others are on land but have been flooded by rising sea levels, rainwater,
or ocean water seeping through the limestone. These caverns can be as big as
a ballroom or so small that divers have to squeeze through them. And they’re
crawling with cool marine animals. Although rarely visited by people, the caves
affect how a lot of humans live. Many are sources of fresh drinking water for
millions of people. So protecting these areas from pollution and the effects of
climate change is important.
“I don’t think of my job as work. It’s often challenging though. Navigating
through a cavern can be like tackling a tricky maze. And sometimes even with
WANT TO BE AN many flashlights, you can’t see anything in the pitch-black passageways. But
ENVIRONMENTAL every time I glide through a majestic cavern, I feel lucky. I wouldn’t want to be
ANTHROPOLOGIST? doing anything else.”

STUDY: Biology, geology,

cultural anthropology “Succeeding at your goals is all about practice. Get the proper
WATCH: The Ice Age movies training to explore safely—and don’t forget to have fun.”
READ: The Silent
World by Jacques
Cousteau
DIVING IN A CAVE ONAND
GRAND BAHAMA ISL

WANT MORE ?
Check out other wild
stories from explorers.
kids.nationalgeographic
.com/explore.html

REEF SHARK

8
© JILL HEINERTH (PORTRAIT); WES C. SKILES / NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
CREATIVE (BIG IMAGE); © PETE OXFORD / MINDEN PICTURES (REEF SHARK)
 ADVERTISEMENT

EXTREME
S
BY KAY BOATNER

W EIRDNES from
AROUND
the WORLD
-o-mete
w eird r

GIRAFFES ON PARADE
WHAT Flower parade
WHERE Zundert,
Netherlands

DETAILS What’s that

smell? Flowers—lots
ARE YOU
WHAT
of them. Every year
some 50,000 people
head to this Dutch

WE’RE
town to see an elabo-
rate parade of petals.
In addition to giraffes
and other animals,
the floats are shaped
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cityscapes, motor-
cycles, ships, and yes,
SAYIN’?
even flowers. Best- SOME MIGHT
smelling parade ever. CALL THIS
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ird-o-meter
GOOD LUCK we
GETTING THE
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YOUR SUIT.

MAN PADDLES ON SAND

WHAT Dry river race

WHERE Alice Springs,

Australia

DETAILS Sand ahoy!

Regattas, or boat
races, usually involve
water. Not the annual
Henley-on-Todd event.
Contestants propel
themselves with shov-
els from atop wheeled
boogie boards, or run
in groups carrying
bathtubs over a dry
riverbed. That’s one
way to make bath time
more fun.

NEW ON THURSDAYS
9
REX USA / CORSO ZUNDERT / REX (GIRAFFES); LISA
MAREE WILLIAMS / GETTY IMAGES (MAN WITH SHOVEL) NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC KIDS
TM & © 2014 CARTOON NETWORK
 Bet you
didn’t 8 splashy facts
know about marine animals
1 5
Sea otters Up to 40
stash food between
rolls of skin. orcas hunt
in one group.
2 The tentacles
of a lion’s mane 6 A female
jellyfish ocean sunfish
can stretch may spawn
more than 300 million
100 feet. eggs at a
3 An time.
octopus 7 Some
has sea cucumbers
rectangular shoot out
pupils. sticky threads
to entangle or © MICHAEL GORE / MINDEN PICTURES

4 At birth, poison
a seahorse
is about the size of
enemies.
an M&M. 8 Male walruses
make a bell-like sound
10 AUGUST 2014
to attract mates.
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TAKE YOUR TASTEBUDS

ON A CHOCOLATE
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Track down delicious meals and fun with the
new Denny’s Adventure Menu.
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STUMP OU
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Funny
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pancakes that Denny’s makes in a
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FILL-IN
A) To the top of the Empire State Building
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stacked horizontally
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When it’s time for me and my _________________ to go to Denny’s, we Discover Denny’s

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always take the _________________ because it runs very _________________ .
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featuring all your favorite
Once we get there, I order the _________________ _________________ and it’s
foods along with all the fun
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always delicious. My adventure of eating never _________________ because NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
(verb) KIDS.
Denny’s makes my _________________ just the way I want it every time.
(menu item)

© 2014 DFO, LLC. Printed in the U.S.A. At participating restaurants ANSWER: STUMP YOUR PARENTS: B
for a limited time only. Selection and prices may vary.
 PIGS
look
out
below!

RIDE
SLIDE Some pigs’
squeals can be
louder than a
running push
lawn mower.

Bathman, Netherlands
The pigs at Piggy’s Palace farm sure do hog the entrance to their
mud pit. That’s because the entrance is a yellow slide that they all
want to glide down—and sometimes they have trouble waiting
their turn.
Owner Erik Stegink installed the slide, which he bought from
a nearby pool, to give the pigs exercise. As Stegink poured water
down the slide to make it slippery, the pigs investigated the plastic
contraption. At first they only tried to drink from it, thinking it
was a water fountain. “So one at a time I set a few on top of the
NOW slide and let them soar down,” Stegink says. “Gradually they figured
SHOWING! out what to do.” By the end of the day, the animals were pushing
each other out of the way to whoosh snout-first into the mud.

JUNIOR
“Healthy pigs are happy pigs—same as humans,” says
Stegink, who figured the swine would enjoy getting a fun work-

VETS out. Pig behaviorist John McGlone agrees. “These animals like to
keep active,” he says. “So the slide is perfect for them.” In fact,
the pigs enjoy the contraption so much that some use it even
on ROKU and YouTube! during the cold winters. These guys are riding high!
kids.nationalgeographic —Barry Petchesky
.com/channel

12
© VINCENT JANNINK / EPA / CORBIS (PIGS, BOTH); ADAM FINK /
AUGUST 2014 OAKLAND ZOO (RALPH); KEITH STONER (SAMI AND CHLOE)
 VERSUS
A photographer shows that it’s
not so easy being a top predator.

TEXT AND PHOTOS BY MICHEL ROGGO

It’s summer in Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula. My goal
here at the Ozernaya River is to photograph brown
bears as they catch fish. It’s a challenge since I need to
maintain a safe distance from the bears. But as I dis-
covered, it’s also a challenge for the bears to catch their
fish. As this female bear (right) finds out, a huge lunge
doesn’t always result in a fish snack. But with a little
patience, both the bears and I got what we wanted.

1 WAITING GAME
During the first few days in Kamchatka, I was mainly looking for
and observing different bears to see which ones were most likely
to be approachable. I usually saw about 10 to 15 bears at any time,
but as many as 600 come to this river when the salmon are swimming
upstream to lay their eggs. When photographing brown bears, it is
crucial to understand their behavior. So for these underwater shots,
I found a good fishing spot, positioned my underwater camera on a
30-foot-long pole with a remote shutter release, and waited for bears
to approach.
I never moved toward them—I let them choose whether to come
closer. Over time, the bears
became accustomed to my
presence. But if a bear
started moving its
head from side to
side, I knew it
was time for
me to move

2
away.
I SEE YOU
This dominant male was very calm. He didn’t
seem afraid or stressed by my presence. He ap-
proached the camera, peering at it underwater.
After this close-up look, he decided it wasn’t very
interesting. So he left to look for the most interest-
ing thing in the river: salmon.

18
 TH ING
OL
7 CO
TA AN
M
1 IT LEAPS HIGH
OUT OF THE SEA
A proper fish knows to stay underwater. Not
IS WEI
manta rays. They sometimes launch them-
selves out of the water, a behavior known as
T TH
breaching. When they come down they create
OU
K
a giant splash. “It seems certain that they’re
using the noise to signal to one another,”
says marine biologist Andrea Marshall.
EC
CH
2 THIS GIANT PUTS THE
MEGA IN MEGASTAR
A large manta’s winglike fins can stretch 23 feet
across. It could wrap them completely around a
whale shark—the largest fish in the world—and
give it a bear hug, though it seems unlikely
either would be thrilled about that. It’s so big
that if one sleeps over, it’ll need four king-size
beds side-by-side to stretch out comfortably.
(Hmm…better make those water beds!)

3 GIANT MANTAS
LIVE WORLDWIDE
Mantas live throughout the world in tropi-
cal and subtropical waters. Some stay near
shore. Others migrate hundreds of miles and
dive deep into the sea.

4 MANTAS PLAY WITH BUBBLES

Play is not a word that would be found in a fish dictionary. However,
manta rays seem to enjoy interacting with humans. Mantas will
check out scuba divers, circling the swimmers to inspect them
closely with their massive eyes and playing in the bubbles created
by divers’ gear. Marshall uses the bubbles to form relationships.
“A manta shakes with pleasure when it feels the tickle of the
bubbles,” she says. “If one passes over, I blow bubbles on its belly
to encourage it to stop.” This helps her get close enough to collect
measurements or DNA samples. Some mantas will hang around for
30 to 45 minutes interacting with research biologists.

22
© MIKE VEITCH / SEAPICS.COM (BIG PICTURE, MANTA RAYS IN A ROW); BRIAN J. SKERRY / NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CREATIVE
AUGUST 2014 (BREACHING); © MARTIN STRMISKA /SEAPICS.COM (DIVER AND MANTAS); © MICHAEL AW / SEAPICS.COM (CEPHALIC FINS)
NGS ABOUT
A RAYS
IRD UNFISHY FIS
H.
BY RUTH A
. MUSG
RAVE
7 THEY WORK TOGETHER
TO MAKE TORNADOES
Manta rays have a cool approach to trapping
plankton. A long line of them will swim in a fast,
tight circle to create an underwater tornado.
The spiraling water sucks in and holds plankton
captive. The rays then devour the banquet that
is trapped inside the swirling snare.

6 GIANT MOUTHS
VACUUM UP FOOD
A manta’s mouth is about one-third its body
width and can be eight feet wide. That’s longer
than a professional basketball player is tall!
When it feeds, the manta unfurls the long fins
(called cephalic fins) on each side of its mouth.
The fins, which can each be three feet long, fun-
nel food into the manta’s extra-large mouth,
which it opens to vacuum up plankton. Manta
rays can trap plankton as small as a grain of
sand, and a large ray eats about 60 pounds
of plankton a day. Because whale sharks and
mantas sometimes compete for the same food,
hundreds of manta rays and whale sharks jostle
and bump for mouthfuls of plankton, like giant

5 THEY’RE BRAINIACS
kids fighting over piñata candy.

Your goldfish’s most complicated thought might be “Open mouth.

Close mouth.” No offense to Goldie, but most fish aren’t known
for brainpower or brain size. Manta rays, however, have the big- A MANTA RAY’S
gest brain (compared to body size) of any fish in the world. Makes CEPHALIC
FINS FUNNEL
sense, since social animals FOOD INTO ITS
like manta rays often have MOUTH.
WATCH huge brains. “Manta rays
MANTA RAYS are clearly social,” Marshall
says. “We often see them in
on the iPAD version groups of several hundred
of NG Kids! working together to feed
FREE WITH PRINT SUBSCRIPTION on plankton, which are tiny
Grab a parent and go online. ocean plants and animals.”
ngm.com/kidsdigital

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC KIDS 23

 URBAN
Jungle BY JAMIE KIFFEL-ALCHEH

Here’s what hap pe ns w he n wild animals

the city.
them selve s at ho m e in
make

C
ities and towns are packed with buildings, cars, and people. But many
also have an unexpected wild side. As human communities expand into
animal habitats, creatures such as cougars and kangaroos are learning
to live in metropolitan areas. The National Geographic TV special Urban
Jungle explores how human hubs affect the way city animals think and act.
See what happens when wild animals become your neighbors.

Big Cat, Big City

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
A cougar creeps through dry brush, dragging

Monkey Business
its prey over craggy rocks and around a giant
structure behind it—the famous Hollywood
sign in Los Angeles, California. The big cat lives
in Griffith Park, which overlooks L.A.’s glittering
cityscape. Many people hike in the park. “But
cougars are shy and don’t like to be seen,” says
biologist Boone Smith, host of Urban Jungle.
“This one has had to adapt to human presence.”
According to Smith, the big cat remains hidden
while it observes people, getting to know when
they come and go. Once the visitors have left at
night, it comes out to hunt high in the hills as
the city bustles below.
CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA
A team of thieves lurks outside a house. Spotting an open window,
one robber slides inside, scrambles to the fridge, and begins to
raid it. These aren’t your average burglars. They’re baboons.
The primates have good climbing skills, agile hands, and high
intelligence, making them perfect crooks. Food is their
prime motivation for stealing. Because the city of Cape
Town has sprawled into the creatures’ habitat, plenty of
opportunities exist for them to invade human homes. “If
you’re careless with your food, they’ll get it,” Smith says.
Residents have tried to stop the primates from stealing,
but the baboons continue to be repeat offenders.

26
© STEVE WINTER / NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC (MAIN IMAGE); BRADLEY KANARIS / GETTY IMAGES (KANGAROOS);
AUGUST 2014 © CYRIL RUOSO / MINDEN PICTURES (BABOON); M DELPHO / GETTY IMAGES (RACCOON); © BOONE SMITH (ELEPHANTS)
Kangaroos Go Green
CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA
A golfer stands on the putting
green, lining up a perfect shot.
Suddenly something bounces by.
It’s not a ball—it’s a kangaroo!
“Over time, Canberra has expanded
into territory with large populations
of marsupials,” Smith says. And hundreds
of kangaroos now live on golf courses in
Australia’s capital city.
Kangaroos showed up on the area’s golf
greens about 15 years ago during a drought.
When they discovered tasty grass and sprinkler
water, many stayed. Today, players tee off while
only a few feet away the marsupials lounge,
care for their joeys, or fight each other for
dominance. One thing they don’t do is play golf.
Raccoon Riddle
TORONTO, CANADA
Scurrying through a suburban backyard,
a hungry raccoon zeros in on a trash
can holding delicious discarded food. But
before she can get her paws on the grub,
the raccoon must solve a riddle—how to
open the can when the lid is strapped tightly
in place by a bungee cord. At first she tries
tugging at the cord. Then she begins prying at
the lid. By shoving the lid up and forward, she’s
finally able to open the can.
For 70 years, raccoons have been migrating from rural
to suburban and urban areas where there are fewer predators
and more food. And scientists think city life is making urban
raccoons brainier than country ones. “The urban environment
offers more challenges,” animal behaviorist Suzanne MacDonald
says. “Raccoons here must sharpen their problem-solving skills to
dodge traffic and get meals.” Many have picked up other talents,
such as opening windows. These raccoons are real smarty-paws.
WATCH
RACCOONS
on the iPAD version
of NG Kids!
FREE WITH PRINT SUBSCRIPTION
Grab a parent and go online.
ngm.com/kidsdigital
Elephant Highway
KASANE, BOTSWANA
A herd of elephants leaves its home in Chobe National Park for a nearby
river during dry season. They follow the same path every night—
stomping right through the town of Kasane. They dash under
stoplights, pass the police station, and even race by the mall.
“This is the same route elephants have used for thousands
of years,” Smith says. “Humans built around it.”
The animals can be destructive. In some areas, they
ruin property such as gardens. Kasane’s residents
eventually built a wire-fence corridor leading to the
river, making a kind of elephant highway that avoids
people’s property. “Not every elephant takes it, but
it minimizes damage,” Smith says.
COMING
SOON!
URBAN JUNGLE
TV SPECIAL!
Check local listings.
27
 Jammin’
Jamaa vir tual
These characters from the lor ing
exp
CHECK
OUT THE
© SMART BOMB INTERACTIVE

world of Anima l Jam are

the town square of Jam
ten
aa. Find
things that
BOOK!
and circle at lea st
scene. Hint: All of
don’t belong in this
animals are sup posed to be there.
the answers on page 34

animaljam.com
28 AUGUST 2014
 CHECK OUT
THE BOOK!
MAKING FACES
These photos show close-up views
of animal faces. Unscramble the
letters to identify what’s in each
picture. Bonus: Use the highlighted
letters to solve the puzzle below.
answers on page 34

RWLUSA AECNR RSLFHYEO

TOP ROW (LEFT TO RIGHT): FUSE / GETTY IMAGES; © DUNCAN NOAKES / DREAMSTIME; © SKYNETPHOTO / DREAMSTIME. MIDDLE ROW (LEFT TO RIGHT):
EASTCOTT MOMATIUK / GETTY IMAGES; MARC PARSONS / SHUTTERSTOCK; © ICELAW / DREAMSTIME. BOTTOM ROW (LEFT TO RIGHT): BERENDJE
PHOTOGRAPHY / SHUTTERSTOCK; © FRANCO BANFI / NATURE PICTURE LIBRARY; VISUALS UNLIMITED, INC. / KEN CATANIA / GETTY IMAGES.

TPLHNAEE ESLA LREUTT FGIAERF

YMEOKN H O R TA R P I S F RAST-EODSN E LMO

HINT: Why can’t a nose be 12 inches long?

ANSWER: T E O U B O .
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC KIDS 29
 Find the HIDDEN ANIMALS
END into
ANIMALS OFTEN BLpro tection.
their environments for
ow in the
Find the animals listed bel er of the
photog rap hs. Wr ite the lett
h animal’s
correct photo next to eac on page 34
answers
nam e.
1. emperor shr imp
2. Texas false katydid
3. Japanese macaque
4. rot-hole tree frog
5. harbor seal
6. great bittern*
type of bird
*Hint: A great bittern is a and Africa. A B
that lives in Europe, Asia,
© ALEX HYDE / NATURE PICTURE LIBRARY (A); © RAMON NAVARRO / NIS / MINDEN PICTURES (B); © VLADIMIR MEDVEDEV / NATURE PICTURE LIBRARY [C);
© JOHN CANCALOSI / ARDEA (D); © JURGEN FREUND / NATURE PICTURE LIBRARY (E); © CYRIL RUOSO / MINDEN PICTURES (F)

C D

E F

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC KIDS 31

 My EDITOR’S
PICK!

Sh t otos and more at

Check out these ph. BONUS: Upload cool
om
ngkidsmyshot.c ip to the beach and
pictures of your tr an to earn a badge!
tag them with #oce

Water Lily lomax

hine emmalia
Sweet Rays of Suns

LightandShadow
Midday at the Gorge

Jax #2 silhouette61
Answers
1. E, 2. D, 3. F, 4. A, 5. C, 6. B.
“Find the Hidden Animals” (page 31):
Bonus: Then it would be a foot.
Tiny Paws byfaith parrotfish, star-nosed mole.
giraffe. Bottom row: monkey,
Middle row: elephant seal, turtle,
Top row: walrus, crane, horsefly.
“What in the World?” (page 29):

Pink Bicycle Parts kwajkid

“Jammin’ Jamaa” (page 28):
Cattle Egret youngphotograph57

34 AUGUST 2014
 Water Balloons robin
Fierce pointlesspics

Bubbles gabriela
s
Picking Strawberrie
leah

Realistic Ladybug leviticus

Heart Out of Sand

pandabear101

Summertime Fun
noahw
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC KIDS 35
 Awesome Animals!
AwesomeAnimals!

STRIPED SKUNK

TEXT BY RUTH A. MUSGRAVE COPYRIGHT © 2014 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY

 STRIPED SKUNK
A Even a skunk’s name is a bad odor.
TRUE: This skunk’s scientific name,
Mephitis mephitis, comes from the Latin
word for “bad odor.”

B Skunks are too stinky to eat.

FALSE: Though the spray stops many
predators in their tracks, skunk-eating
predators include great horned owls,
coyotes, badgers, foxes, and bobcats.
Skunks spray first and ask
C questions later.
FALSE: Before it sprays, a skunk usually
warns its enemy with stomps, hisses, and
growls. Spraying is its last resort.
A skunk could nail you with a
D stream of stink from ten feet.
TRUE: But on a windy day, you might
want to back even farther away. A
direct hit of the smelly spray can cause
temporary blindness and nausea.
E It lives in southern Canada.
TRUE: It also lives in most of the United
States and in northern Mexico.

© LISA HUSAR / TEAM HUSAR

 Awesome Animals!
AwesomeAnimals!

OKAPI
 OKAPI
A Okapis run in herds on the plains.
FALSE: The secretive, usually solitary, and
endangered okapi lives in rain forests
in central Africa.
When you cross a zebra and a
B donkey, you get an okapi.
FALSE: The okapi’s only living relative
is the giraffe. The stripes on okapis’ legs
may help babies see their moms more
easily in the forests where they live.
An okapi’s reddish-brown fur
C feels like velvet.
TRUE: The fur has a red tinge and is
velvety soft.
A newborn okapi can stand sooner
D than you can get a pizza delivered.
TRUE: The newborn can stand within
30 minutes. The calf triples in size within
about two months.
A giraffe can be three times as
E tall as its okapi cousin.
TRUE: An okapi is about 6 feet tall; a
giraffe is about 14 to 19 feet tall.

© JUNIORS BILDARCHIV GMBH / ALAMY

 Awesome Animals!
AwesomeAnimals!

QUEEN TRIGGERFISH
 QUEEN TRIGGERFISH
A queen triggerfish locks itself in
A a tight crevice at night.
TRUE: After the fish wedges itself into a
crevice, it locks itself into place with its
spines so predators can’t pull it out.
B This fish only sips plankton soup.
FALSE: Its powerful jaws and specialized
teeth help it demolish a sea urchin’s
crunchy exoskeleton or chomp through
shells.

C This photo is life-size.

FALSE: A large queen triggerfish can be
almost 24 inches long, bigger than an
open copy of this magazine.

D Their nest is a bowl of sand.

TRUE: Queen triggerfish blow water with
their mouths or flutter their fins to create
a soft, sandy nest for the eggs.
To treat an earache, someone
E might say, “Take two triggerfish.”
TRUE: Some cultures use these fish to
treat asthma and earaches, as well as
help stroke victims.

© BRANDON COLE / KIMBALL STOCK

 Awesome Animals!
AwesomeAnimals!

KOALAS
 KOALAS
A The koala is a bear.
FALSE: It may be teddy-bear cute, but a
koala is a marsupial, not a bear.
Koalas live in eastern and south-
B eastern Australia.
TRUE: But growing neighborhoods and
deforestation threaten koala populations.
Their high-fiber diet gives koalas
C lots of energy.
FALSE: Koalas use so much energy digest-
ing the high-fiber, toxin-filled eucalyptus
leaves that they sleep for up to 20 hours a
day to conserve energy. They get much of
their water from the leaves they eat.
Scientists call a group of koalas
D a “crew.”
FALSE: Koalas don’t typically hang out
together, so they have no group name.
E They have humanlike fingerprints.
TRUE: Though to them, we have koala-
like prints. The patterns of ridges and
uniqueness to individuals are almost
identical to those of humans.

© GERARD LACZ / KIMBALL STOCK

 RED FOXES
Only Canadians have red foxes
A as neighbors.
FALSE: Red foxes live throughout North
America, Europe, Asia, and northern
Africa.
The red fox’s small size makes
B it a slow runner.
FALSE: In short bursts, a red fox can run
about 30 miles an hour.
A newborn red fox weighs less
C than a smartphone.
TRUE: At birth, kits weigh about 3.5
ounces—less than a smartphone—and
are about 4 inches long. That’s almost as
long as a smartphone.
D Both parents care for the young.
TRUE: As kits switch from milk to solid
food, the parents bring rabbits and squir-
rels to the den for kits to eat.

E Parents supply toys for the kits.

TRUE: They leave bones and other objects
in the den for the kits to play with.

© GERARD LACZ / KIMBALL STOCK

 INDIAN PEAFOWL
A There are no female peacocks.
TRUE: Males are peacocks. Females
are peahens. Youngsters are peachicks.
Whether it’s a female, male, or chick,
this bird is a peafowl.
Some of its feathers are longer
B than a 10-year-old kid.
TRUE: During breeding season, an Indian
peacock’s train of long feathers near its
tail grows up to five feet long.
C Peafowl eat only peas.
FALSE: The birds enjoy eating berries,
grains, and young cobras. Toss in some
termites and worms, and you’ve got a
peafowl feast.
D Like ostriches, peafowl cannot fly.
FALSE: Even peachicks can fly within a
week of hatching.
Peafowl feathers can save
E human lives.
TRUE: Doctors have used an extract from
the feathers to treat snakebites.

© ARCO IMAGES GMBH / KIMBALL STOCK

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