NATGEOKIDS.

COM • DECEMBER 2023 / JANUARY 2024

FREE
COLLECTOR’S
CARDS

CIA
PE L

ENDANGERED
S

ANI IMALE S
S S U

5 COOL
CRITTERS
that need your help:
red wolves, tigers, and more
Plus 20 ways to save them!

GORILLA
PERSONALITY PLUSHIE
QUIZ GIVEAWAY BUSY BEAVER
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For the 50th anniversary of the

Editor in Chief,
Kids and Family, Magazines and Digital Endangered Species Act, we’re
Rachel Buchholz celebrating five animals that
Senior Design Editor, Magazines Eileen O’Tousa-Crowson were once in trouble but are now
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Photo Shannon Hibberd, Senior Photo Editor the best way you can help your
Production Sean Philpotts, Manager favorite animal, then read more
YS
Digital Laura Goertzel, Senior Manager about these inspiring comebacks.
PLUS: 10 WA
otect
you can help pr
26-27
animals! PAGES
COMEBACK CRITTERS
»
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 Check out these BEST.
outrageous facts. SHOES.
EVER.
BY JULIE BEER AND MICHELLE HARRIS

VOLCANOES A SNOWY
ONCE ERUPTED OWL’S FEET
ON THE MOON. ARE COVERED IN
FEATHERS
TO KEEP THEM
WARM.
A deorusbaluelt with a EXTREME
som
ATHLETES
perfor m ed on a have SKIED
WORMS that resemble
trampoline
is calle d a
from the top of
MOUNT
fliffi s.
TINY CHRISTMAS TREES
are found on many
EVEREST

IGOR SOKALSKI / DREAMSTIME (MOON); MARKUS VARESVUO / NPL / MINDEN PICTURES (SNOWY OWL); JAMES
CORAL REEFS.

PHILLIPS / GETTY IMAGES (CHRISTMAS TREE WORM); NALUPHOTO / DREAMSTIME (WEST INDIAN MANATEE)
to a
BASE
CAMP
The lungs of a
West Indian
manatee are
two-thirds
12 ‚000
FEET BELOW.
the length
of its body.

4 NAT GEO KIDS • DECEMBER 2023 / JANUARY 2024

 Question
BY JULIE BEER

What’s the slimiest animal?

The hagfish easily
takes this ooey
gooey top spot. It Hagfish sneeze
can fill an entire if their nostrils
bucket with slime in fill with slime.
less than a second!
Turns out, slime is a hagfish’s
superpower. When threatened, the
eel-like, 18-inch-long fish releases
sticky mucus—or slime—filled with
tiny fibers that sting and clog a
predator’s gills. And if that doesn’t
work, the hagfish has a backup A RESEARCHER
move: It can squirm out of its SHOWS OFF
SLIME FROM
attacker’s grasp by tying itself A HAGFISH.
into a knot.(How? The hagfish
has no bones.)
This fish might be the slimi-
est animal, but it could also
compete in the “strangest”
category. It’s the only animal
with a skull but no true spinal
column, and its skull is made
of cartilage, the same flexible SLIME!
tissue in your nose and ears.
It has at least three hearts,
and even though it has eyes, Scientists have
the hagfish is almost blind. found about
Stay weird, hagfish! 80 species of
hagfish.

These animals
are scavengers
MILITARY COLLECTION / ALAMY (SLIME); GINA KELLY / ALAMY (KNOT)
BLICKWINKEL / ALAMY (FULL BODY); RON NEWSOME, NSWC PCD / PJF

that eat dead

fish off the
seafloor.

CHECK
A HAGFISH
TWISTS INTO
OUT THE
A KNOT. BOOK!

DECEMBER 2023 / JANUARY 2024 • NAT GEO KIDS 5

GUINNESS
WORLD
Get more cool stuff
NO in the new book
SELFIES, GUINNESS WORLD

RECORDS
PLEASE. RECORDS 2024.

VERY IMP ORTANT

BEAR
This officer doesn’t follow
orders very well—unless
it’s an order to eat fish!
Juno the polar bear is the
world’s highest-ranking
bear. The bear was “adopted”
by the Canadian Army as
a mascot after she was
born near an armed forces
Polar bears
holiday; she now holds the have black
unofficial rank of master skin under
corporal. She’s also an their fur.
environmental ambassador,
raising climate change
awareness for visitors at
the Toronto Zoo where she
lives. Juno, we salute you!
—Laura Goertzel

O M AN
W
AN CE S
D
D
THE TORONTO ZOO (JUNO); COURTESY OF GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS LTD. (ORNAMENT); PAUL MICHAEL HUGHES /
A
GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS (DANCERS). INFORMATION PROVIDED BY © 2023 GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS LIMITED.
ON HE
These two aren’t your average
dancers. Wu Zhengdan can

HUGEDECORATION
perform four pirouettes
on the head of Wei
Baohua, the most
on record. Wei
hoists his partner
onto his noggin,
You might have a hard time hanging up this ornament. where she turns four times on
Dangling from the ceiling of a mall in Dubai, United Arab one foot before jumping back
Emirates (a country in the Middle East), the world’s largest down. After some soreness in
holiday bauble weighs 2,425 pounds and has about a 15-foot the beginning, Wei now wears
diameter. Fifteen people needed two nights to put together a special hat to keep his skull
the ornament, plus a third to hang it. That’ll be one giant comfortable. That’s really
storage box in someone’s basement! —Laura Goertzel using your head. —Liz Lane

6 NAT GEO KIDS • DECEMBER 2023 / JANUARY 2024

 5 frosty facts about
the Arctic
1
BY PAIGE TOWLER

Arctic foxes
2 have thick fur on
their paws that
Submarines help them grip
have traveled the ice.
underneath
the
North Pole.
3
Temperatures
in the Arctic have
dropped as low as
minus 93.3˚F.

4
once a year, the
At least
5
Arctic has 24 hours The Arctic
of darkness and region includes parts
24 hours of of Canada, Finland,
sunlight. Greenland, Iceland,
Norway, Russia,
MATTHIAS BREITER / MINDEN PICTURES

Sweden, and the

United States.

NAT GEO KIDS 7

BY
theNUMBERS
ALL IN THE FAMILY FRUIT FLY
Every living thing on Earth—animals, plants, and
fungi—shares a common ancestor that lived 1.6 billion
years ago. That means all living things share some DNA,
47%
the stuff that determines everything from eye color
to height. Here’s how much DNA humans share with
other organisms.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

GRAPES

24%
BAKER’S YEAST

18%
8 NAT GEO KIDS • DECEMBER 2023 / JANUARY 2024
 BY JENNIFER ADRION AND OMAR NOORY CHECK
OUT THE
BOOK!

MOUSE CHIMPANZEE

88% 98%
60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

COW

85% YOU
CHICKEN ARE
65% HERE
ANTON STARIKOV / DREAMSTIME (YEAST); APRILPHOTO / SHUTTERSTOCK (GRAPES); ROBLAN / DREAMSTIME (FRUIT FLY); LENA PAN /
SHUTTERSTOCK (CHICKEN); ERIC ISSELEE / SHUTTERSTOCK (COW, CHIMPANZEE); RUDMER ZWERVER / SHUTTERSTOCK (MOUSE) DECEMBER 2023 / JANUARY 2024 • NAT GEO KIDS 9
AMAZING
ANIMALS
NIBI PLACES A
STICK ON THE
I’M READY RIGHT SIDE OF
THE STAIRS
TO ROLL! LEADING TO
HER POOL. HER POOL
TOYS ARE ON
THE LEFT.

NIBI PLAYS
WITH A BALL,
HER FAVORITE
TOY. TOYS

Beaver Cleans Room

Chelmsford, Massachusetts
Busy as a beaver? Just wait till you
meet Nibi!
Found near a road when she was a few
days old, this American beaver is grow-
ing up at Newhouse Wildlife Rescue.
For her first year, Nibi spent most of
her time inside the facility, where she
could be safe from predators like
hawks and get the care she needed.
Rehabbers gave Nibi lots of toys to
play with and sticks to practice her
dam-building skills.
Throughout the day, Nibi mixed
the sticks and toys together. But
when the beaver decided it was time
to clean up, she carefully placed
each item into its proper pile. “It’s
like she was separating her play-
things from her work things,” animal
rehabilitator Jane Newhouse says.
Nibi’s behavior is similar to how
beavers select stuff in the wild, bea-
ver researcher Jordan Kennedy says.
For example, they’ll cover tasty willow
branches with building materials
like alder tree branches. And when
constructing dams, beavers select
woody materials over leaves and
reeds, which they’ll use to build
only if needed.
“Basically, when building dams
and storing food, beavers will
select what they like from what
they don’t,” Kennedy says.
Supersmart Nibi is now living in
an outdoor enclosure while she
prepares to go back to the wild in
the spring. We wonder what she’ll
organize next! —Stephanie Rudig

10 NAT GEO KIDS • DECEMBER 2023 / JANUARY 2024

 SORRY—
ONLY
BEAVERS
ALLOWED!

LET’S
GET THIS
SORTED.

THE BEAVER
PRACTICES
BUILDING
A DAM IN A
DOORWAY.

STICKS

COMPLIMENTS
TO THE CHEF!

BRING
A BIGGER
BOTTLE
NEXT
FIVE-MONTH-OLD
TIME. NIBI CHOWS DOWN
ON APPLES, KALE,
AND VITAMIN-
PACKED PELLETS.

A STAFF MEMBER
BOTTLE-FEEDS A
WEEK-OLD NIBI
WITH A SPECIAL
FORMULA MADE
JUST FOR BEAVERS.

NEWHOUSE WILDLIFE RESCUE (ALL) DECEMBER 2023 / JANUARY 2024 • NAT GEO KIDS 11
 LION

T O
M E T
O H
C E
L
E CIAL
E
Think
P
W

R ED 1
of your

GE
ENDAN ALS
S favorite
animal.
In which It mostly roams on land.
Choose the path that best describes your favorite animal.
of these

ANI SIM U E
three
places

QUIZ
does it
live?
P
E R
S O N
A
L
S

FE
I

N
EC It IP
T

H
F OX PO
walks
Y

P O TA M U
on all
It fours.
has fur,
for sure! LIN
GO
RA

N
PA

KI N G C OB
BY KAY BOATNER

ATTENTION ALL ANIMAL LOVERS:

The Endangered Species Act is turning 50!
B RO W N

This 1973 law (also known as the ESA) makes it illegal to kill or
harass endangered species in the United States and gave U.S. R

ED
government agencies the power to protect those critters’ habi-
BE

PA
tats. The ESA helps protect animals in other
AR

N DA
countries, as well. For instance, ivory trade It’s a
Once an
is banned in the United States; that helps pretty
WINFRIED WISNIEWSKI / MINDEN PICTURES (LION); THOMAS RABEIL / NPL / MINDEN PICTURES (FENNEC FOX); ANDREW

animal
TURES (DOLPHIN); CAROL BUCHANAN / ADOBE STOCK (NUDIBRANCH); TUI DE ROY / MINDEN PICTURES (MANTA RAY)

big
MINDEN PICTURES (RED PANDA); RALPH PACE / MINDEN PICTURES (SEA TURTLE); DOUG PERRINE / NPL / MINDEN PIC-

protect African and Asian elephants, which

LIBRARY / ALAMY (PANGOLIN); JELGER HERDER / BUITEN-BEELD / MINDEN PICTURES (COBRA); © KATHERINE FENG /

is listed animal. It’s small

SCHOEMAN / NIS / MINDEN PICTURES (HIPPO); BENJAMIN OLSON / MINDEN PICTURES (BEAR); NATURE PICTURE

are often poached for their ivory tusks.

under the enough to
Thanks to the ESA and similar laws
Endangered pick up.
enacted by other countries to protect (But don’t!)
Species Act,
critters, endangered animals have a chance
they’re
to survive. In fact, without the ESA, experts
classified
think that nearly 300 of Earth’s animal
as either
species might have vanished by now.
threatened or
That’s why Nat Geo Kids has created this
endangered.
special Endangered Animals Issue: We’re
RESULTS
PROTECT A HABITAT
THREATENED celebrating the species that have been You’re a generous person who’s happy to
means a species is helped over the past 50 years thanks to the share your space with wildlife. So try protect-
likely to become ESA and similar laws around the world. ing your favorite plants and animals by pro-
On the next 12 pages, you’ll meet five If these
endangered tecting their habitats. Just like you need your
animals that were in trouble but are now descriptions
soon. house and the town that you live in, animals
recovering with the help of caring people don’t match
your person- need places to thrive in, too. But when people
ENDANGERED and strong conservation laws. Plus, you’ll
ality, don’t cut down too many trees or build too many
means a species get tons of tips on how you can protect
worry. This farms or homes where wild spaces used to
is in danger of critters that still need help.
quiz is just be, animals have less room to feed, mate,
extinction in But first, follow the paths on this chart
for fun! and raise their young. According to some
much of its to discover the best way for you to help experts, habitat loss is the main threat to
range. your favorite animal. Then keep reading— about 85 percent of all endangered plant
you’ve got animals to save! and animal species.

Discover more Earth-saving tips and get the scoop on the GET TIPS FOR PROTECTING HABITATS.
Endangered Species Act! natgeokids.com/save-the-earth natgeokids.com/habitat-destruction

12 NAT GEO KIDS • DECEMBER 2023 / JANUARY 2024

 GREEN SEA PEREGRINE
TURTLE FALCON

2 3
It lives underwater. It flies in the sky.
Choose the path that best describes your favorite animal. Choose the path that best describes your favorite animal.

It’s not It blends ANCH

TO U C A
BR
very in with

DI
furry. the water.

NU
N

AT
Its

DB
beak is
normal-size SE

R
It has

SE
or small LES NO
a pretty LO N G-
BO

big beak. compared to

It’s a
TT

EN its body.
colorful
L

US OS
E D O L P HI N
(Or it has
C L OW marine Its
It’s N no beak!)
animal. wingspan is
a quiet
FIS

on the small
creature.
H

side.

It

R
lives in

HE
BE

coral
AY

It T

IS
reefs. ED F It
L

SN
L LYF I S H KI NG O
R

crawls or A JE W lives in
MA NT YO
WL
slithers. chilly
places.
BA L D E
It’s AG

AT O O
kinda

LE
chatty! It

CK
has a
You huge

O
C
see it near wingspan. It
the coast
lives in
some-
warmer

DEN PICTURES (FALCON); BEN LASCELLES / NPL / MINDEN PICTURES (TOUCAN); JOEL SARTORE / PHOTO ARK / NPL / MINDEN PIC-
COLLECTION (BELUGA WHALES); MATHIEU FOULQUIE / BIOSPHOTO / MINDEN PICTURES (JELLYFISH); ALAN MURPHY / BIA / MIN-

TURES (BAT); BILL MORALES / BIA / MINDEN PICTURES (KINGFISHER); JIMCUMMING88 / ADOBE STOCK (OWL); BERTIE GREGORY /
times.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC IMAGE COLLECTION (BALD EAGLE); JUERGEN & CHRISTINE SOHNS / MINDEN PICTURES (COCKATOO)
climates.
BE

LU
GA
W H ALES

BOOST BIODIVERSITY
You love being around all kinds of people
and appreciate their differences—and
that’s how you feel about wildlife, too.
So try protecting your favorite animal
by boosting biodiversity. Biodiversity
is measured by the number of plants
and animals that rely on each other for
survival; a healthy environment should
have a lot of them. But things like climate
change, pollution, and habitat destruc-
tion can lower the number of species
living in a habitat, something known
as declining biodiversity.
PREVENT PLASTIC POLLUTION
You’re an incredibly thoughtful thinker
who comes up with creative solutions to
problems. So try protecting your favor-
ite animal by decreasing the amount of
plastic pollution. Unlike food or paper
waste, plastic pollution—especially when
it comes from single-use plastic like
straws or bags—never fully decomposes,
or breaks down into pieces that can be
reused by nature. Instead, it often ends
up in water habitats, where it releases
toxic chemicals and can be mistaken for
food by marine mammals.
GARY BELL / OCEANWIDE / MINDEN PICTURES (CLOWNFISH); BRIAN J. SKERRY / NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC IMAGE
COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE
No problem is too big for you to tackle,
because you know that small actions can
make a huge difference. So try protecting
your favorite animal by fighting against
climate change. The Earth’s average
temperature has increased about 1.5°F
in the past century, partly because of an
increase of carbon dioxide in the atmo-
sphere. This global warming causes things
like harsher droughts and stronger hur-
ricanes. Hundreds of species have already
lost homes and food sources because of
climate change.

GET TIPS FOR BOOSTING BIODIVERSITY. GET TIPS FOR PREVENTING POLLUTION. GET TIPS FOR FIGHTING CLIMATE CHANGE.
natgeokids.com/declining-biodiversity natgeokids.com/pollution natgeokids.com/climate-change

DECEMBER 2023 / JANUARY 2024 • NAT GEO KIDS 13

 CIA
PE L

ENDANGERSED
S
ANI IMALE

1
S S U

R
C

E
M
O

T
EB IT
AC K C R

AMERICAN WOLVES
Discover how scientists across the
United States are helping these
canines expand their territory.
MAIN TEXT BY ALLYSON SHAW
ANIMAL AWARDS BY KAY BOATNER
A cinnamon-colored wolf pads through a swampy corner
of eastern North Carolina. As this red wolf searches for
tasty rodents, experts track the animal through the
orange GPS collar it’s wearing around its neck. They need
to know where it goes so they can better protect it—and
this predator needs lots of protection. The red wolf is the
most endangered wolf on Earth.
A RED WOLF IN
But this isn’t the only kind of wolf living in the United NORTH CAROLINA
States that needs help. In the past, both gray wolves and WEARS AN ORANGE
GPS COLLAR, WHICH
Mexican wolves (a subspecies of gray wolf) almost went MAKES IT MORE
VISIBLE TO DRIVERS.
extinct in the country. But conservationists, scientists,
and lawmakers worked together to protect the animals,
and today these wolves are returning to their homeland.
“Humans and wolves can coexist,” says Giselle Narváez BIG BAD WOLF? and used guns, traps, poison,
Rivera, an animal ecologist at the International Wolf In the 15th century, Native and, later, dynamite to kill
Center. “Wolves deserve to be here as much as we do.” Americans shared the land the animals.
with as many as 500,000 “It’s what most people
Where Virginia wolves, and the creatures wanted at that time,” says
Tennessee Alligator River
red
wolves North Carolina National Wildlife were an important part of John Oakleaf, a biologist with
live Refuge
their culture. For instance, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
South
Carolina
the Shoshone people of Service. “They wanted all
UNITED STATES Georgia ATLANTIC
OCEAN
what’s now the western wolves gone.”
United States say that a By the mid-1900s, only a
Arizona
New
Mexico
wolf-god created Earth. few hundred gray wolves
ARCTIC OCEAN
NORTH
But people coming to the remained in the contiguous
Texas
AMERICA
OP
E Americas from Europe 500 (that means connected)
EUR
UNITED STATES ASIA
PACIFIC
years ago did not want United States; Mexican and
MEXICO ATLANTIC
MEXICO
OCEAN AFRICA OCEAN wolves around. They cut down red wolves had almost totally
Where
Mexican PACIFIC
INDIAN
forests where the animals disappeared from the planet.
SOUTH
wolves OCEAN
AMERICA OCEAN lived to raise cows, pigs, and
live
AUSTRALIA sheep for food. They thought NEW ATTITUDE
SOUTHERN OCEAN
wolves were dangerous to Before the 1960s, not enough
Where
ANTARCTICA
gray both humans and livestock, people thought about how
wolves
live

14 NAT GEO KIDS • DECEMBER 2023 / JANUARY 2024

 HOW TO HELP
AMERICAN
Many
WOLVES
people don’t
know that red wolves
exist. Write a school
report, draw a poster,
or howl to your friends
about how cool these
Hold a
creatures are.
bake sale or work
a lemonade stand, then
donate your proceeds
to an organization
that protects
wolves.

A GRAY WOLF
RUNS THROUGH
SNOW IN
YELLOWSTONE
NATIONAL PARK
human behavior—like ways that conservationists IN MONTANA.
driving cars or using are protecting the creatures.
pesticides—affected the
environment. But then GRAY WOLF
people’s attitudes changed. COMEBACK
They realized that we needed In the 1990s, one population
to protect the planet’s of gray wolves was thriving:
resources, and that animals those living in the Canadian
like wolves would disappear Rocky Mountains, where they
if things didn’t change. were isolated from hunters.
So in the 1970s, red, gray, Scientists from Canada
and Mexican wolves were and the United States
listed under the U.S. worked together to capture
Endangered Species Act some of these wolves and
(ESA). Not only was it now release them into Wyoming,
illegal to kill or harm them, Montana, and Idaho. Because
but the country also had to the ESA made it illegal to
come up with plans to save hunt them in the United
its remaining wolves. States, the gray wolf popula-
Here are some of the tion began to grow.

JENNIFER HADLEY PHOTOGRAPHY (RED WOLF); FRED VAN WIJK / ALAMY (GRAY WOLF); MARTIN WALZ (MAP)
 Today, you might hear
howling from one of
Yellowstone National Park’s
hundred wolves, which are
descendants of those wild
wolves from Canada. Their
numbers add to the offspring
from wolves that crossed into
the United States from
Canada on their own, as well
as the wolves that stayed safe
from hunters. Now about
5,500 gray wolves are
reclaiming territory in
seven states.
But some people still fear
wolves and don’t want them
around. So conservationists
and the government are
working with ranchers to
pay them back for lost live-
stock, and to come up with
ways to keep cattle and pets
safe from the predators.
“It’s a success story,”
Rivera says. “But we’re not
done yet.”
MEXICAN
WOLVES RETURN
With two squeaky 10-day-old
Mexican wolf pups squirming
in a backpack, scientists hike
a few miles into the Gila
National Forest in New
Mexico. They’re looking for
16 NAT GEO KIDS • DECEMBER 2023 / JANUARY 2024
a Mexican wolf pair that has
just given birth to a litter of
six pups. The wolves don’t
know it, but they’re about to
adopt a few more.
By the 1970s, Mexican
wolves were extinct in the
United States, but the ESA
kicked off plans to bring them
back. The first step was to
trap five wild Mexican wolves
from Mexico and breed them
with two captive Mexican
wolves. In 1998, the first
captive-born, adult Mexican
wolves were released into
Arizona and New Mexico.
The population slowly
grew, but scientists were
still worried. There weren’t
A CAPTIVE
MEXICAN WOLF
HUNTS IN ITS
ENCLOSURE IN
NEW MEXICO.
enough unrelated adult
wolves to make healthy pup-
pies. If animals have to pair
up with family members,
then their pups will have
unhealthy genes, which make
them sick.(Having a lot of
animals to pass down
a healthy mix of genes is
called genetic diversity.)
Scientists knew they had
to increase the number of
unrelated, healthy puppies.
So in 2016, scientists came
up with a new plan: wild
wolves adopting captive-
born pups.(Researchers call
this process cross-fostering.)
That’s how these two cap-
tive newborn pups wind up
snuggled in backpacks as
researchers hike to find the
wild wolf den. While the
adults are out hunting, the
sneaky scientists lift the cap-
tive pups out of the back-
packs and gently place them
with their new brothers and
sisters.
To introduce the wolves,
scientists rub the captive-
born and wild pups together,
even letting them pee on
each other to mix their
smells. “After that, the wolf
parents don’t mind taking
SCIENTISTS RUB
FECES ON CAPTIVE- care of the new pups,”
BORN MEXICAN WOLF Oakleaf says.
PUPS SO THEY SMELL
LIKE WILD WOLF The idea is that the cap-
PUPS. tive pups will grow up and
breed with wild wolves, pass-
ing on their healthy genes.
KATIE ORLINSKY / NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC (LONE MEXICAN WOLF, MEXICAN WOLF PUPS);
VICTORIA ZIGLAR, BRIGHT CORAL CREATIVE, ENDANGERED WOLF CENTER (RED WOLF FAMILY)
 ANIMAL AWARDS:
UNITED STATES
Wolf pups leap, pounce, chase,
wrestle, and play hide-and-
seek. So if we were giving out
awards, wolves would win for
Most Playful Pups. Here are
three other endangered ani-
mals in the United States that
deserve their own trophy.

MOST IMPRESSIVE LEAP

Blunt-nosed leopard lizards
wait for insects to wander by
before pouncing. And they can
leap up to two feet to snatch
prey—that’s about five times
the length of the lizard’s body.

CAPTIVE RED
WOLF PARENTS
STICK CLOSE TO
THEIR PUP IN
MISSOURI.

BEST GROUP NAME

Thanks to this ongoing work, “People worry for their
250 wild Mexican wolves kids and pets, and hunters
roam Arizona and New don’t like competing with
Mexico today. wolves for deer,” says Kim
Wheeler, Red Wolf Coalition
SAVING RED executive director. All wolves
WOLVES face these problems(even
Starting in the 1980s, though attacks are extremely
conservationists released rare). But the red wolf popu-
over a hundred captive-born lation is especially vulnerable
red wolves in one wild spot: because it’s not big enough
North Carolina’s Alligator to overcome them.
River National Wildlife To help, scientists fit all of
Refuge. The peninsula had the wild red wolves with
plenty of prey for the wolves bright orange GPS-tracking
and no livestock. collars that make them more
But over the years, the visible to drivers. The collars
wolves’ numbers have also remind people that
dropped as people shot them these wolves are highly
or accidentally hit them with endangered, which discour-
cars. Today, fewer than 20 ages people from shooting
adults remain in the wild. them.(Sometimes people can
mistake the wolves for
coyotes, which are legal
to kill.)
Thanks to this work,
2022 was an exciting year
for these animals: Six pups
were born to the wild red
wolf pack, their first litter
since 2018. And an updated
plan for their recovery will
begin next year.
In the meantime, conser-
vationists are talking to local
people to hear their con-
cerns and help them under-
stand why red wolves should
be protected. “This is wolf
country,” Wheeler says. “It’s
their home, too.”
WATCH YELLOWSTONE WOLVES IN ACTION!
natgeokids.com/december
A group of black-footed
ferrets is called a “busi-
ness.” Their long, slender
bodies easily slip into
prairie dog burrows, one
of their favorite places to
“take a lunch break” during
a “workday.”
SMOOTHEST
SQUID SNATCHER
Hawaiian petrels like
squid—a lot. In fact, the
cephalopod makes up
most of the bird’s diet.
To hunt, petrels head
to sea from their nests
in high-up rock crevices.

CHONES / SHUTTERSTOCK (TROPHY); © GARY NAFIS (BLUNT-NOSED LEOPARD LIZARD); KIMBERLY

FRASER / USFWS (BLACK-FOOTED FERRETS); SCIENCE HISTORY IMAGES / ALAMY (HAWAIIAN PETREL) DECEMBER 2023 / JANUARY 2024 • NAT GEO KIDS 17
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SCARLET MACAWS
Eco-heroes take action to
make sure these fliers are on the rise.
A brightly colored scarlet macaw soars over thousand-
year-old ruins in Honduras, a country in Central America.
After passing over an ancient pyramid, the scarlet
macaw lands on a carved stone sculpture of … itself.
These birds were sacred to the Maya, people who
thrived in this region between A.D. 300 and 900. This
site, called the Copán ruins, has more macaw imagery
than any other Maya spot. But by the early 2000s, real
scarlet macaws were in danger of disappearing from
this region.

SCARLET
MACAWS
REST NEAR
POACHING
MAYA RUINS PROBLEMS
IN HONDURAS.
With their colorful feathers,
curious nature, and ability to
mimic human speech, many
people wanted scarlet
macaws as pets throughout
the 1900s, especially in the
United States. So local
people would climb trees in
Central American forests to
nab scarlet macaw chicks.
One bird could be worth an
entire month’s wages.
NORTH
AMERICA When macaw numbers
MEXICO ATLANTIC
AF
were crashing, the Honduran
government passed a law in
1990 that made it illegal to
take the birds. They also
hoped that making it the
country’s national bird would
protect it.
The U.S. Endangered
Species Act listed scarlet
macaws as endangered in
2019, which made it illegal to
import wild-caught birds to
the United States. But
poachers continued to pluck
and sell the birds illegally.

CENTRAL ATLANTIC GUATEMALA OCEAN

SPREADING
R IC

AMERICA OCEAN
BELIZE
A

THE BIRD WORD

Copán HONDURAS
PACIFIC SOUTH
OCEAN AMERICA ruins NICARAGUA
GUYANA

COSTA VENEZUELA
SURINAME
FRENCH MACAW
Back in 2001, conservationist
RICA
PANAMA COLOMBIA
GUIANA
(France) SCULPTURE Lloyd Davidson built a park
ECUADOR called Macaw Mountain near
the Copán ruins to care for
PACIFIC
Where OCEAN
PERU B R A Z I L
about a hundred abused
scarlet
macaws
BOLIVIA or neglected pet macaws.
live In 2010, James Gilardi, an
CLAY ENOS (MAIN IMAGE); LLOYD DAVIDSON (MACAWS

18 NAT GEO KIDS • DECEMBER 2023 / JANUARY 2024

BY RUINS); HOWARD MORRIS (MACAW ON STATUE);
GUILLERMO ORDOÑEZ (MACAW RELEASE)
 HOW TO HELP
SCARLET ANIMAL AWARDS:
MACAWS CENTRAL AMERICA
Beware of Scarlet macaws use their
roadside attractions powerful beaks to crush the
that let you hold scarlet nuts and seeds they eat—their
macaws or other wild beaks even help them climb
animals for a fee. These
animals might not be trees! So if we were giving out
properly cared for, and awards, scarlet macaws would
they might’ve been win Best Beak. Here are three
stolen from other endangered animals in
the wild.
Central America that deserve
their own trophy.
Macaw
habitat is often
cut down to make LOUDEST HOWL
room for cattle. You
can help prevent The Yucatán black
this by eating howler monkey, whose
less meat. range extends into
North America, is the
loudest land animal.
Heard miles away, its
screams can be about
as loud as the sound of
an airplane taking off.

ONLOOKERS
CELEBRATE
AS A SCARLET
MACAW IS
RELEASED BACK
INTO THE WILD
ecologist from the World IN HONDURAS.
Parrot Trust, suggested CUTEST SWIMMER
releasing some of the cap- Pygmy three-toed sloths—the
tive birds back into the wild. smallest of all sloth species—are
“But I was worried at first,” good swimmers partly because
Davidson says. “Some people they’re gassy! Slow digestion
might still try to illegally means they have lots of gas in
harm or steal the birds.” their system, which allows them
So the conservationists to float easily through the man-
set up an education program grove forests where they live.
at nearby schools to teach
kids why it’s better to have
macaws in the wild than as FIERCEST PUNCH
pets. Then they invited locals a hurt macaw or suspect In 2023, locals and The Honduras spike-
to come watch the macaws that poaching is happening. tourists celebrated the thumb frog gets its
being released as they flew Best of all, the plan proved release of 12 more birds. name from a “second
over the ruins for the first that captive macaws can “There’s nothing like seeing thumb” males have on
time in decades. adapt to the wild again. macaws released,” Gilardi their front legs. It’s a
Macaw Mountain’s part- “Several months after says. “Everyone’s clapping, fleshy appendage that
ner, called Pro-Alas (alas release, a macaw that laughing, and crying. It’s hides a bone the amphibians
means “wings” in Spanish), might’ve been friendly to a surprisingly emotional use in fights with other frogs.
has since released over 200 people at the center might experience.”
macaws. Today, many locals try to bite if you get too
feel protective of the birds close in the wild,” Davidson PLAY A HABITAT PUZZLE GAME!
and call Pro-Alas if they find says. “That’s good!” natgeokids.com/december
CHONES / SHUTTERSTOCK (TROPHY); KEVIN SCHAFER / NPL / MINDEN PICTURES (YUCATÁN
BLACK HOWLER MONKEY); SUZI ESZTERHAS / MINDEN PICTURES (PYGMY THREE-TOED SLOTH); BEN
SADD / FLPA / MINDEN PICTURES (HONDURAS SPIKETHUMB FROG); MARTIN WALZ (MAP) DECEMBER 2023 / JANUARY 2024 • NAT GEO KIDS 19
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PERSIAN FALLOW DEER

HOW TO HELP
Conservationists give these PERSIAN
creatures another chance to thrive. FALLOW
A sandy-colored deer with white spots springs out of a DEER
wooden crate. A park ranger has just released the GPS- Visit
collared critter as part of a plan to save the Persian fallow zoos approved
deer. Standing just three feet tall at the shoulder, this ani- Explore parks by the Association of
mal is one of the rarest species of deer in the world. Once like Dasht-e Naz Zoos and Aquariums;
thought to be extinct, today these deer are returning to Wildlife Refuge, where these institutions help
the oak and pistachio woodlands they used to roam. wild animals can roam save species like the
without being hunted. Persian fallow
These areas help keep deer.
A PERSIAN wild animals safe.
FALLOW DEER
IS RELEASED
IN ISRAEL.

ANCIENT Persian fallow deer was dis-

ANIMALS
Persian fallow deer were
once common across West
Asia; for over 11,000 years,
they were an important
source of food for people liv-
ing in the region. These deer
appear in ancient pottery
N TURKMENISTAN
and art, and experts think
EA
covered in southwestern
Iran. The country built a
reserve around the area
where the animals were
found, and scientists brought
a few of the deer into out-
door enclosures at Dasht-e
Naz Wildlife Refuge in north-
central Iran. The U.S. govern-

AR C
TI C
OC Lake
Urmia
Caspian
Sea ancient Egyptians might have ment listed the deer as
A
even kept them as pets. endangered under the U.S.
EUROPE S
I Dasht-e Naz But as human populations Endangered Species Act,
Wildlife Refuge
increased and needed more making it illegal to import
A
AT L A N T I C

IRAQ I R A N
food, the deer’s numbers the deer or their parts.
AFRICA
KUWAIT
declined, especially after Since the animals were
firearms killed them in brought to Dasht-e Naz, sci-
OC

INDIAN LEBANON
OCEAN higher numbers. By the entists like Ekrami Behrang
EA

SYRIA
N

Mediterranean
Sea
1940s, scientists thought have studied the captive
the rare deer was extinct. deer and made sure they
N

ISRAEL could breed in safety. Today,

JORDA

Where
Persian
fallow deer EGYPT
STAYING SAFE about 400 deer are in Iran,
live But in 1956, a herd of 25 living in fenced reserves and

20 NAT GEO KIDS • DECEMBER 2023 / JANUARY 2024

 ANIMAL AWARDS:
WEST ASIA
A male Persian fallow deer’s
antlers start out as small spikes
but grow to two feet long—and
they look like tree branches! So
if we were giving out awards,
Persian fallow deer would win
Most Awesome Antlers. Here
are three other endangered
animals in West Asia that de-
serve their own trophy.

BEST BEAUTY SECRET

Egyptian vultures swish
their heads back and forth
in muddy pools to cover
their faces and feathers in
red mud. Scientists aren’t
sure why the birds wear
this “makeup” but think it
might help mates bond. It
may also keep them cool.

CUTEST
NICKNAME
Golden hamsters,
aka teddy bear ham-
sters, are popular
pets. Small popula-
tions of these cuties
can still be found in
the wild in Syria
on protected islands in Lake and Turkey.
Urmia, the largest lake in the
country. Iran’s government is
currently trying to release
some of the animals back
into the wild.

ROAMING FREE A CAMERA TRAP

CAPTURES AN
Meanwhile in Israel, other IMAGE OF A MALE
PERSIAN FALLOW
conservationists are working DEER IN ISRAEL.
to save the Persian fallow COOLEST
deer there. Since 1978, DISAPPEARING TRICK
they’ve been breeding deer More than 300 wild deer ensure that Persian fallow Wagner’s viper was first
from Iran. Then in 1996, they roam freely through wood- deer won’t ever get so described by scientists in
began releasing them into land areas in this country; close to extinction again. 1846—then not seen again till
four nature reserves in they’re tracked by GPS collars “It makes me proud to know 1986, 140 years later. These
northern Israel, which con- and camera traps and pro- that future generations venomous snakes are masters
tinues today. “The deer know tected by rangers who watch will also have an oppor- at hiding out in the rocky
exactly what native plants to for poachers. Scientists hope tunity to see this animal,” mountains where they live.
eat and how to survive here,” that the wild population will Behrang says.
says ecologist Amit Dolev of continue to grow.
the Israel Nature and Parks These conservationists in SEE PICS OF CUTE BABY ANIMALS!
Authority. Israel and Iran are trying to natgeokids.com/december
EYAL BARTOV / ALAMY (MAIN IMAGE); AMIT DOLEV PH.D (RELEASE); INPA (ISRAEL NATURE AND PARKS AUTHORITY) (CAMERA
TRAP); CHONES / SHUTTERSTOCK (TROPHY); WINFRIED WISNIEWSKI / MINDEN PICTURES (EGYPTIAN VULTURE); HEIDI AND HANS-
JUERGEN KOCH / MINDEN PICTURES (GOLDEN HAMSTER); BLICKWINKEL / ALAMY (WAGNER’S VIPER); MARTIN WALZ (MAP) DECEMBER 2023 / JANUARY 2024 • NAT GEO KIDS 21
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TIGERS HOW TO HELP

Locals and researchers are working TIGERS

together to bring back these big cats. Grab a
parent and check
A nearly 700-pound, 10-foot-long animal slinks silently out the World Wildlife
through the forest. Its orange-and-black fur matches the Fund’s palm oil scorecard
pattern of sunlight filtering through the woods. online before buying
“Tigers are much larger, more beautiful, and more peanut butter, soap,
graceful than you’d expect,” says John Goodrich, chief or other items with
scientist for conservation group Panthera, which works palm oil, which is
to protect tigers. grown in tiger
Tigers are the largest wild cats in the world—and habitat.
they’re in trouble. In the past hundred years, these Ask your
animals have lost about 95 percent of their habitat. school cafeteria to
By 2010, the tiger population was at an all-time low, switch to sustainably
with only a few thousand remaining. grown palm-oil
products.
A BENGAL
TIGER WALKS
THROUGH A
FOREST IN
INDIA. TIGERS IN as well. But these measures
TROUBLE weren’t enough.
Tigers once ranged across When scientists explored
all of Asia, thriving in dense tiger habitat in Southeast
jungles, open grasslands, Asia in the early 2000s, they
coastal swamps, and snow- were shocked. “They found
covered forests. But people thousands of snares and
live in these places, too, and explosive traps,” Goodrich
they cut down trees for fire- says. “If we didn’t take
wood and hunted deer and dramatic action, tigers
wild hogs, which tigers eat. would disappear—fast.”
People also killed tigers for
ON THE MEND
R U S S I A
sport and to use their parts
I A A as medicine, even though In 2010, all 13 countries where
A S PACIFIC S
I
that practice doesn’t work. tigers recently lived agreed
OCEAN A C HI NA
NEPAL
BHUTAN
Tigers were protected by to work together to save the
INDIAN
OCEAN
INDIA MYANMAR TAIW
TAIWAN
TAIWA
TAIW
WAN
N the U.S. Endangered Species species. To protect tiger habi-
PACIFIC
OCEAN Act in 1973, making it illegal tat, many countries created
THAILAND
to buy or sell tigers or their new reserves for the animals.
BANGLADESH
MALAYSIA
parts in the United States. For example, India created
Where
tigers INDIAN OCEAN I N D O N E S I A
Other countries signed a 14 new reserves, and China
live treaty to regulate this trade created the world’s largest

22 NAT GEO KIDS • DECEMBER 2023 / JANUARY 2024

 ANIMAL AWARDS:
SOUTHEAST ASIA
No two tigers have the same
exact stripes. So if we were
giving out awards, tigers
would win Coolest Coat. Here
are three other endangered
animals in Southeast Asia that
deserve their own trophy.

MOST DEVOTED
MOM
Adult orangutans
are mostly solitary—
except for moms
with youngsters.
Juvenile Sumatran
orangutans stay
with their mothers
till nearly their 10th
birthday. Mom
teaches them how
to be adult orangs but gives
them plenty of playtime, too!

CUTEST HORNS
Javan rhinoceroses
are the rarest rhinos on
Earth, with fewer than
a hundred remaining.
These rhinos also have
the smallest horns of
all rhinos, often mea-
suring less than eight
protected area for tigers. inches. (Some African
The countries also worked species have horns
with conservation groups to A BENGAL TIGER measuring up to 60 inches.)
CARRIES HER CUB
train rangers on how to IN RANTHAMBORE
patrol for poachers. NATIONAL PARK
Organizations like the
IN INDIA. BEST DRACULA
International Union for LOOK-ALIKE
Conservation of Nature You might think vam-
(IUCN) began working with pires are real if you see
people living near tigers. The a group of large flying
groups provided gas stoves foxes hanging upside
so people didn’t need to cut down from a branch
down firewood. Conservation- with their giant wings
ists also helped locals earn wrapped around their
money from ecotourism. CAT COMEBACK more hopeful than I’ve been bodies. These crea-
Phurba Lhendup, tiger In 2022, conservationists got a in decades,” Goodrich says. tures don’t feast on
program coordinator for good surprise: An IUCN report “Everybody loves tigers—and blood, however—they
IUCN, says it’s important to found that the world’s tiger now we’re working together prefer fruit, nectar, and flowers.
listen to people who live near numbers are actually 40 per- to save them.”
tigers. “If people don’t bene- cent higher than they thought,
fit,” he says, “conservation with up to an estimated 4,485 WATCH MORE COOL CATS IN ACTION!
efforts aren’t likely to work.” tigers now in the wild. “I’m natgeokids.com/december
ANDY ROUSE / NPL / MINDEN PICTURES (MAIN IMAGE, TIGER IN FOREST, MOM CARRYING CUB); CHONES /
SHUTTERSTOCK (TROPHY); STEPHEN BELCHER / MINDEN PICTURES (JAVAN RHINOCEROS); PANU RUANGJAN /
ALAMY (LARGE FLYING FOX); CYRIL RUOSO / MINDEN PICTURES (ORANGUTAN); MARTIN WALZ (MAP) DECEMBER 2023 / JANUARY 2024 • NAT GEO KIDS 23
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HOW TO HELP
HUMPBACK
HUMPBACK WHALES WHALES

Caring people pass laws to Take a

whale-watching
protect these marine mammals. tour, following
approved marine-
Dive under the ocean waves, and you’ll hear wails,
life viewing
groans, whoops, croaks, squeaks, purrs, and barks. All Have your
guidelines.
these sounds are coming from one species: the hump- parents take photos of
back whale. As these 50-foot-long mammals swim whale flukes, or tails, in the
through the sea, they compose these sounds into a wild and share them with
song. New research has found that whales in a single groups like the Pacific Whale
population share the same song, and together they Foundation. The pics will
change the tune over time and across the ocean. be used to track these
Just 50 years ago, the seas were much quieter. Hump- animals and keep
back whale numbers had been declining for centuries, them safe.
and only a few thousand remained. But people love
music as much as humpbacks do—and that gave the
whales a chance to survive.

DANGEROUS they often couldn’t agree.

SEAS And some nations cheated
Humans have hunted whales by killing whales without
for thousands of years, boil- reporting it. Humpback
ing their blubber to create whales were in danger of
A HUMPBACK lamp oil and eating their disappearing forever.
WHALE MOTHER meat. The whalers attacked
AND CALF SWIM
OFF THE COAST near the coastline where MAKING MUSIC
OF JAPAN. these animals often hang In the 1960s, a U.S. naval
out. “Humpbacks are curious officer was recording under-
whales, so they’d come inves- water sounds to listen for
ARCTIC OCEAN
tigate the boats,” marine enemy submarines when
biologist Phillip Clapham he captured some strange
NORTH E says. That made the sea noises. He sent the record-
OP
AMERICA EUR ASIA mammals easy prey. ings to biologist Roger Payne,
ATLANTIC
PACIFIC In the 1800s, whalers who realized the sounds were
OCEAN
AFRICA OCEAN
started using harpoons and coming from humpback
PACIFIC SOUTH INDIAN steam-powered ships so whales. Even more amazing:
OCEAN AMERICA OCEAN they could hunt more whales The sounds repeated in pat-
AUSTRALIA faster. Humpback numbers terns, just like a human song.
Where SOUTHERN OCEAN
plummeted. Countries tried Payne put the whale music
humpback
whales
to limit how many whales on a record called Songs of
ANTARCTICA
live each nation could hunt, but the Humpback Whale, selling
Where humpback whales live
24 NAT GEO KIDS • DECEMBER 2023 / JANUARY 2024
RALPH PACE / MINDEN PICTURES (MAIN IMAGE); HIROYA MINAKUCHI / MINDEN PICTURES (MOM AND
CALF); CHASE DEKKER / MINDEN PICTURES (WHALE-WATCHERS); CHONES / SHUTTERSTOCK (TROPHY)
 ANIMAL AWARDS:
OCEANS
Humpback whale songs can
be heard underwater up to 20
miles away. So if we were giving
out awards, humpback whales
would win Biggest Singing
Sensation. Here are three other
endangered ocean animals that
deserve their own trophy.

BEST POCKETS
Sea otters store rocks
in a patch of loose
skin under their
arms—sort of like a
pocket. The rocks
are tools they use to
open tasty clams in
the kelp forests where the sea
mammals live. They often use
the same rock over and over.

TOUGHEST TUMMY
Hawksbill sea turtles have an
unusual diet: sponges. Their
125,000 copies. Then National hawklike beaks pluck sponges
Geographic magazine sent from the cracks and crevices of
the record to 10.5 million coral. Most animals can’t eat the
subscribers. Payne played the toxic sponges, but this turtle
recording for U.S. govern- WHALE-WATCHERS
gobbles 1,200 pounds a year.
ment officials and on TV. SPOT A HUMPBACK
BREACHING THE
People realized how special SURFACE NEAR
these animals are—and that THE COAST OF NEATEST NOGGIN
CALIFORNIA.
they needed protection. Great hammerhead sharks
Humpback whales were sweep their hammer-shaped
added to the U.S. Endangered OCEAN we understand humpbacks, heads—called cephalofoils
Species List in 1973, so the CELEBRATION the better we can protect (SEF-uh-loh-foils)—
government needed to Scientists now know that them,” says Ellen Garland, a side to side as they
create a plan to help bring humpbacks help keep Earth whale song researcher and swim. This unique
them back. This included healthy by storing heat- National Geographic Explorer. swimming tech-
protecting marine areas and trapping carbon in their Now, people pay to check out nique gives them
changing shipping paths to bodies: It’s estimated that Earth’s 150,000 humpbacks an awesome
reduce collisions. And people one whale is worth $2 million swimming and singing. “They’re advantage: 360-
worldwide pressured coun- in climate-change-fighting still so friendly,” Clapham says. degree vision!
tries to stop hunting whales. technology. And research “And they’re still singing.”
In 1986, the Inter-national about whale culture and
Whaling Commission banned songs is helping create new PLAY AN OCEAN MAZE GAME!
whaling for profit. protections today. “The more natgeokids.com/december

MICHAEL QUINTON / MINDEN PICTURES (SEA OTTER); CLAUDIO CONTRERAS / NPL / MINDEN PICTURES (HAWKSBILL
SEA TURTLE); NORBERT WU / MINDEN PICTURES (GREAT HAMMERHEAD SHARK); MARTIN WALZ (MAP) DECEMBER 2023 / JANUARY 2024 • NAT GEO KIDS 25
 CIA
PE L

ENDANGERED
S

ANI IMALE S
S S U

10 TIPS
TO HELP ANIMALS
1 SPACED OUT
Don’t give wild animals
food or water. It might seem
kind, but doing this encour-
ages critters like manatees
to approach people and
boats, which puts them in
danger. (Plus, people food
can make animals sick.) And
BY ALLYSON SHAW WEST INDIAN MANATEE
don’t toss food out of the
Animals need more than car window—it encourages
laws to protect them— animals like opossums, coy-
they need you, too! See otes, and turtles to get close
how small actions can to the road, where they can
help make big changes. get hurt. (Bird feeders and
birdbaths are OK!)

2
GOLDEN-WINGED
TOILET TROOPER Don’t flush medicine or WARBLER DECALS CAN
ALSO HELP

3
pet poo down the toilet. Wastewater treatment PREVENT
BIRD
facilities aren’t built to treat this material, so it can BIRD BUDDY Put CRASHES.
end up in waterways. That can make animals like stickers, paint, or tape on
sea otters and fish sick. the outside of your house’s
windows to keep birds from
flying into these reflective
surfaces. On spring or fall
evenings, close the curtains
so that artificial light won’t
confuse migrating birds.

4 PLASTIC BUSTER
Plastic that blows out of trash
cans can look like food to
some animals, making them
sick. So talk to local businesses
about reducing their plastic
waste. Get our guide for how
to do this. natgeokids.com
/kidsvsplastic
JAMES R.D. SCOTT / GETTY IMAGES (1); SUZI ESZTERHAS / MINDEN PICTURES (2);

26 NAT GEO KIDS • DECEMBER 2023 / JANUARY 2024

NATURE PHOTOGRAPHERS LTD / ALAMY (3, WARBLER); JDZACOVSKY / SHUTTER-
STOCK (3, WINDOW DECAL); LYDIA SOKOR / GETTY IMAGES (4); YI-FU KE / 500PX (5)
 CLOVER

5 BEST MESS Flowering

clover and dandelions
provide food for bees and
butterflies, and dead leaves
are cozy spots for lots of
insects to hibernate in during

6
the winter. So go ahead—let FLORIDA PANTHERS
your backyard be messy! PROTECT YOUR STATE Research
which endangered animals live in your state
or territory. Start with groups like the U.S. Fish
VERMILION and Wildlife Service.
SEA STAR

7 FIREFLY FRIEND It’s OK

to gently catch fireflies in your
hands, but don’t put them in
8 WILDLIFE WATCH If you see people
feeding, chasing, or touching a wild animal
like a seal, sea turtle, or dolphin, ask an adult
a glass jar or other container. to call for help. They can call the police or a
Some species of these insects special hotline from the National Oceanic
are in danger of going extinct, and Atmospheric Administration to report
so let them fly free. a problem.

9 BEACH BODYGUARD
Never take live sea stars,
sand dollars, or urchins from
the ocean—these living
animals can’t survive out of
the water. And leave shells at HAWAIIAN
the beach—whole ones are MONK SEAL

homes for hermit crabs, and

broken shells are important
hiding places for fish and
octopuses.

10 GORILLA GUARDIAN
Phones, computers, and
other electronics contain coltan,
PARENTS! Go online for a chance to win this plushie
for your kid. natgeokids.com/giveaways
a mineral extracted from gorilla
habitat. You can be a hero for NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Begins on 12/4/23 at 8 a.m. ET and ends on 12/11/23 at 11:59 p.m.
these animals by using your old ET or until 5 eligible entrants are verified, whichever is earlier. First come, first served. Open
to 50 U.S./D.C.; 18+; with children ages 6-14. SUBMISSIONS MUST BE EMAILED BY YOUR PAR-
devices as long as you can, then ENT/LEGAL GUARDIAN. Void where prohibited. Sponsor: National Geographic Partners, LLC,
recycling the tech at your local 1145 17th St., NW, Washington, DC 20036. Rules/odds: https://natgeokids.com/giveaways
electronics store.

CARLTON WARD / NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC IMAGE COLLECTION (6);

ATSUO FUJIMARU / NATURE PRODUCTION / MINDEN PICTURES (7); SYLVAIN
CORDIER / NPL / MINDEN PICTURES (8); NORBERT WU / MINDEN PICTURES (9) DECEMBER 2023 / JANUARY 2024 • NAT GEO KIDS 27
 STUFF
GAMES,
LAUGHS,
AND LOTS
TO DO!
PLAY!

MUSEUM MISCHIEF
It’s after midnight, and all the exhibits at the natural
history museum have suddenly come to life. But the
fun ends at sunrise, when the exhibits must find their
way back to their correct halls. Help the tornado,
gemstone model, and T. rex below find a clear path
back to their homes. ANSWERS ON PAGE 35

28 NAT GEO KIDS • DECEMBER 2023 / JANUARY 2024 RUTH A. MUSGRAVE (CONCEPT); JAMES YAMASAKI (ART)
 MARCELCLEMENS / SHUTTERSTOCK (SATURN); SHAWN PNW / 500PX / GETTY IMAGES (STARRY SKY);
NASA (EARTH); 24K-PRODUCTION / GETTY IMAGES (MARS); KEVIN M. GILL (CC-BY) BASED ON IMAGES
PROVIDED COURTESY OF NASA / JPL-CALTECH / SWRI / MSSS (JUPITER); NASA / JPL (NEPTUNE)

30
SATURN
18%
Whatcha

MARS
11%
I’LL STAY

THANKS!
16%
ON EARTH,

NAT GEO KIDS • DECEMBER 2023 / JANUARY 2024

JUPITER
9%
Pick a
planet
to visit.
38
Think?

A PLANET BEYOND
OUR SOLAR SYSTEM
%

8%
NEPTUNE
responded to this poll!
Check out how Nat Geo Kids readers
 C RITTER
FREE BEAR
HUGS!

C HAT
If animals used social media,
what would they say? Follow this Gobi
bear’s day as it updates its feed.
BY LAURA GOERTZEL

GOBI BEAR You don’t stand a

SCREEN NAME: HairyBeary chance, @HairyBeary.
LIVES IN: Gobi Desert in Double rows of super-
southern Mongolia long eyelashes and a
FRIENDS third eyelid keep sand
»

and other stuff from

blocking my view.
SirLumpy

Good luck finding me, @SirLumpy.

My feathers blend in with the
desert sand.
PALLAS’S DesertBird
BACTRIAN CAMEL GOBI JERBOA
SANDGROUSE

BAYASGALAN AMGALAN (BEAR LARGE IMAGE AND PROFILE, ALL); OSKANOV / GETTY IMAGES (CAMEL PROFILE, ALL); © RAPHAËL SANÉ / BIOSPHOTO (JERBOA PROFILE, ALL); ROBIN CHITTENDEN /

WATER); COUGARSAN / SHUTTERSTOCK (WATER DROPLET EMOJI); TURGAY MALIKLI / SHUTTERSTOCK (EYES EMOJIS); AGAMI PHOTO AGENCY / ALAMY (SANDGROUSE IN WATER); GERTRUD AND
ALAMY (SANDGROUSE PROFILE, ALL); THE GOBI BEAR TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROJECT TEAM, ECOLOGY AND NATURE CONSERVATION INSTITUTE, CHINESE ACADEMY OF FORESTRY (BEAR IN
SirLumpy SandHopper DesertBird You sure you don’t
START

mean hide-and-hunt,

HELMUT DENZAU / NPL / MINDEN PICTURES (CAMEL EYE); ROLAND SEITRE / NATURE PICTURE LIBRARY (JERBOA HOPPING); MIKE LANE / FLPA / MINDEN PICTURES (CAMEL TEETH)
@HairyBeary? If
6 a.m. you get too close, I’ll
Good morning, Gobi just hop away. #BobAndWeave
gang! Meet up at SandHopper
the watering hole? 4 p.m.
I need a dip.
HairyBeary

I need to scratch my back. Anybody

I’ll join! Gotta get my seen a good tree?
belly feathers wet HairyBeary
SandHopper: Tasty plant roots are what
so my chicks can sip
I’m after!
water off of them Try my snack bar. I eat
back at the nest. #DadDuties from treesLeave
with salty,
DesertBird HairyBeary: some
thorny,
roots for bitter
me, too.leaves—
You’ll
Now that I think about it, I haven’t had beyum!
glad My
youchompers
did. #TooFull-
can
ToHunthandle just about
a sip in weeks. I’m thirsty, too! SirLumpy
anything.
#TheseHumpsStoreFatNotWater
#GluggingGallons
SirLumpy
Ahem, @SirLumpy, save something for
the rest of us. I need to redecorate my
@SirLumpy, gulp all you want! I’ll get nest. DesertBird
the moisture I need from nibbling bugs
and plants near the watering hole.
SandHopper
Tasty plant roots are
3 p.m. what I’m after!
SandHopper

Who’s up for a game of hide-and-seek? Leave some roots for me, too. You’ll be
glad you did. #TooFullToHunt
HairyBeary HairyBeary

DECEMBER 2023 / JANUARY 2024 • NAT GEO KIDS 31

 FINDTHE
FIND THE
HIDDEN
Animals often blend in with their
ANIMALS
environment to hide. Find each
animal listed below in the pictures,
A
then write the letter of the cor- HINT:
rect photo next to each animal’s Find
name. ANSWERS ON PAGE 35 two!

1. orchid mantis _____

2. giant walking stick _____
3. crocodilefish _____
4. marbled tree frog _____
5. rock ptarmigans
(a type of bird) _____
6. Asian vine snake _____
7. mountain hare _____

D E

32 NAT GEO KIDS • DECEMBER 2023 / JANUARY 2024

ESPEN BERGERSEN / NATURE PICTURE LIBRARY (A); THOMAS MARENT / MINDEN
PICTURES (B); MICHAEL AND PATRICIA FOGDEN / MINDEN PICTURES (C)
 B C

F G

JIM BRANDENBURG / MINDEN PICTURES (D); BRUNO GUENARD / BIOSPHOTO / MINDEN

PICTURES (E); PETE OXFORD / MINDEN PICTURES (F); ANDY PARKINSON (G) DECEMBER 2023 / JANUARY 2024 • NAT GEO KIDS 33
 ART ZONE
COMEBACK CRITTERS
Check out these animals
with amazing survival
stories drawn by
Nat Geo Kids readers!

 Happy Panda
Mia C., 12 Restoring
Dublin, Ohio
forests in Sumatra
q A Pangolin and is helping Sunda
Her Baby
June K., 10 pangolin numbers
Olathe, Kansas increase.

New protected
areas in China
are helping giant q Snow Day
Hannah D., 9
pandas bounce Pikeville, North Carolina
back.

Tourists who pay

to see southern
white rhinos in
African parks are
helping this species
survive.

Once considered
p Rhino at Sunset extinct in Central
Daniel H., 8
Ellsworth, Maine Europe, Eurasian lynx
are now being reintro-
duced throughout
the continent.
34 NAT GEO KIDS • DECEMBER 2023 / JANUARY 2024
Draw
Nat Geo Kids— Include your name, address, phone number, date of birth, a title for your drawing, a statement
a character or Send us Mythology Art Zone that it is your own work, and the name of your parent or guardian. Your parent or guardian must
story from Greek your P.O. Box 98002 sign a release for publication if your illustration is selected. Submissions become the property of
mythology. original Washington, DC National Geographic Partners, and all rights thereto are transferred to National Geographic Partners.
drawings: 20090-8002 Submissions cannot be acknowledged or returned. Selection will be at the discretion of Nat Geo Kids.

A ban on
killing whales
allowed blue whale
populations around
the world to
recover.

Australia’s  Splash!
Tyler S., 11
waterfall frog is Mount Airy, 1. B, 2. D, 3. E, 4. F, 5. A, 6. C, 7. G.
finally recovering Maryland ”Find the Hidden Animals” (pages 32-33):
 Waterfall Frog
9/19/23 3:41 PM NGK DEC 23-JAN 24-FS Opener_REL.indd 30-31

after a deadly fungus

Linden D., 8 attacked the species
q The Magnificent Holland, Michigan
Bald Eagle 30 years ago.
Evan D., 9
Morris Plains, New Jersey

Bald eagles
recovered from the
brink of extinction
after the United
States banned a
pesticide that
poisoned them.  Just Relaxing!
”Museum Mischief” (pages 28-29):
q Florida Panther Ruth S., 12 Answers
Paradise Issaquah,
Naila F., 10 Washington
Bonita Springs, Florida
Statement of ownership, management, and monthly circulation of
National Geographic Kids
OWNER AND PUBLISHER: National Geographic Partners, LLC
David E. Miller, Executive Vice President and General Manager
Rachel Buchholz, Editor in Chief
HEADQUARTERS OF PUBLISHER AND PUBLICATION:
1145 Seventeenth Street N.W., Washington, DC 20036
STOCKHOLDERS; BONDHOLDERS; MORTGAGE;
OTHER SECURITY HOLDERS: National Geographic Society
and The Walt Disney Company

Average no. copies Single issue

each issue during nearest to
preceding 12 mos. filing date
A. TOTAL COPIES PRINTED Oct. 2022-Sept. 2023 Sept. 2023
(Net Press Run) 704,508 639,917
B. PAID CIRCULATION
1. Outside-County Mail Subscriptions 598,010 533,548
2. In-County Mail Subscriptions - -
3. Non USPS Distributed 68,290 68,139
4. Other Classes Mailed Through USPS - -
C. TOTAL PAID CIRCULATION 666,300 601,687
D. FREE DISTRIBUTION BY MAIL
A breeding (includes samples, no news agents)
1. Outside-County 5,829 5,807
program helped 2. In-County - -
Florida panthers 3. Other Classes Mailed Through USPS
TOTAL FREE DISTRIBUTION BY MAIL
-
5,829
-
5,807
increase their numbers E. FREE DISTRIBUTION OUTSIDE THE MAIL
F. TOTAL FREE DISTRIBUTION (Sum of D and E) 5,829
- -
5,807
from about 20 cats in G. TOTAL DISTRIBUTION (Sum of C and F) 672,129 607,494
the 1970s to over H. OFFICE USE, LEFTOVER, ETC.
I. TOTAL (Sum of G and H)
32,379
704,508
32,423
639,917
200 today. J. PERCENT PAID 99% 99%

DECEMBER 2023 / JANUARY 2024 • NAT GEO KIDS 35

 Awesome
Insects!
Our planet is packed with up to 10 quintillion insects. (That’s 19 zeros!) But nearly half of
all insect species are threatened or endangered. “These creatures are important to every
eco-system,” says Zak Gezon, Disney’s conservation manager and an entomologist (a bug
scientist). “They pollinate plants, decompose plant and animal matter, and are themselves
a source of food.” Check out these endangered insects—plus get tips on how you can help
protect them.

DESERT BASKER

TEXT BY IAN HODDER COPYRIGHT © 2023 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PARTNERS, LLC

 DESERT BASKER
A This dragonfly was thought to be
extinct for more than 30 years.
TRUE: The last time anyone spotted this
insect was in the 1980s—until a scien-
tist snapped a photo of one in 2013!
B All desert baskers are red.
FALSE: Female desert baskers are brown,
which camouflages them in the West
Asian wetlands where they live. Males
are red, probably to attract mates.
C Dragonflies have lived before,
during, and after the dinosaurs.
TRUE: Ancestors of desert baskers lived
about 100 million years before dinos.
(Take that, T. rex.)
D The larvae breathe with their butts.
TRUE: The larvae live in water till they
grow into dragonflies. They get oxygen
through internal gills in their behinds.
SAVE THE INSECTS TIP: “At night, in-
sects follow light from the moon and stars,”
bug scientist Zak Gezon says. “Other lights
can confuse them.” Limit light pollution by
turning off lights when you’re sleeping.

MARTIN WALDHAUSER (DRAGONFLY); TURGAY MALIKLI (LADYBUG)

 Insects!
Awesome

QUEEN ALEXANDRA’S BIRDWING

QUEENCOQUEREL’S
ALEXANDRA’S BIRDWING
SIFAKA
A This butterfly couldn’t
The Coquerel’s sifaka isfit inside
a relative
your shoe.
of raccoons.
TRUE:
FALSE:With wings
Text text measuring almost 11
text
inches across, this insect is longer than
They named themselves.
your foot. It’s the world’s largest butterfly.
TRUE: Text text text
B Called “kangaroos of the garden,”
A sifaka
these swings through
superheavy trees.
insects hop from
FALSE: TextA text text
SALTWATER CROCODILE

flower to flower instead of fly.

It can These
FALSE: only insects
eat about ten plant
soar among treetops
species.
on the island nation of Papua New Guinea.
C B
FALSE: Text text text
C One look at this butterfly’s larvae
will makesending
you sayone “yikes!”
If you’re a letter,
address
TRUE: TheCitlarvae
to Ankarafantsika.
is covered in spiky red
growths called
TRUE: Text texttubercles.
text
D
GREAT GRAY OWL

D
D Their caterpillars could win a prize
in a poison-vine-eating contest.
TRUE: TheE caterpillars feed on pipevine,
which might make them gross-tasting or
poisonous to predators like cuckoo birds.
E
© JURGEN FREUND / NATURE PICTURE LIBRARY

SAVE THE INSECTS TIP: When

planting food for insects, think about
their entire life cycle. “A caterpillar might
eat milkweed, but a butterfly needs flow-
er nectar,” bug scientist Zak Gezon says.
HEMIS / ALAMY (BUTTERFLY); TURGAY MALIKLI (LADYBUG)
CREDIT
 Awesome
Insects!

AUSTRALIAN ANT
 AUSTRALIAN
COQUEREL’S ANT
SIFAKA
A This species crawls
The Coquerel’s everywhere
sifaka is a relative
in
of the country it’s named after.
raccoons.
FALSE: These insects
Text text text live only in wooded
regions of southern Australia.
They named themselves.
B If theyText
TRUE: hadtext
a motto,
text it’d be “team-
work makes the dream work.”
B A sifaka swings through trees.
FALSE: Unlike many other ant species,
FALSE: Text text text
Australian ants hunt for food solo.
It can only eat about ten plant
C Recently
species.
discovered, they’re the
C newest ants on the block.
FALSE: Text text text
FALSE: First recorded in the 1930s, these ants
areyou’re
If nicknamedsending one
“dinosaur a letter,
ants” because
they’re the it
address to Ankarafantsika.
closest living example of what
Earth’s
TRUE: earliest ants
Text text were like.
text
D
D If stung, you’ll be swollen for days.
TRUE: Their stinger is smaller than a
poppy seed, but Australian ants can still
deliver a painful prick.
SAVE THE INSECTS TIP: Your yard
E makes a great insect habitat, but only if
it has places for them to hide. “Ask your
parents to mow less often and cut the
grass higher so it’s easier for insects to
nest,” bug scientist Zak Gezon says.
MARK MOFFETT / MINDEN PICTURES (ANT);
CREDIT MALIKLI (LADYBUG)
TURGAY
 Awesome
Insects!

CEDERBERG CAVE KATYDID

 CEDERBERG CAVE KATYDID
A This grasshopper cousin lives
throughout Africa.
FALSE: The only place this species calls
home is a cluster of caves in South Africa.
B If this bug could sweat, it’d be
drenched hanging out in your room.
TRUE: This Ice Age survivor prefers a cool
54 degrees—14 to 18 degrees below what
your parents set the home thermostat to.
C Tiny flies beware: This insect will
snack on you if you’re exploring
its cave.
FALSE: This katydid sneaks out at night
to dine on grass.
D This card is twice as long as the
katydid’s antennae.
FALSE: The insect’s antennae are about
twice as long as this card.
SAVE THE INSECTS TIP: It’s easy to
care about cute and fuzzy endangered
animals, but endangered insects need at-
tention, too. “Raise awareness by telling
your friends about the creatures,” bug
scientist Zak Gezon says.
PIOTR NASKRECKI / MINDEN PICTURES (KATYDID);
TURGAY MALIKLI (LADYBUG)
 Awesome
Insects!

CROTCH BUMBLEBEE
 CROTCH BUMBLEBEE
A These bumblebees live in rat nests.
TRUE: They hide out in abandoned ro-
dent burrows in California grasslands.
B Some colonies have been around
longer than the 13 original ones.
FALSE: Colonies—about a hundred bees—
survive for only a year. Then the queen
rebuilds with her offspring in spring.
C Buzzing helps them fertilize plants.
TRUE: Sound waves from the buzzing
shakes pollen from the flowers that the
bees drink nectar from. Then the bees
carry that pollen to other flowers.
D They smell like cheese.
TRUE: These bumblebees mark their
territory and attract mates by releasing a
stinky substance that smells like cheddar.
SAVE THE INSECTS TIP: “Pesticides
are sprayed to kill ‘bad’ bugs,” bug scien-
tist Zak Gezon says. “But those chemi-
cals can harm eco-friendly insects like
bees.” Instead, try spraying soapy water,
which repels spiders and mosquitoes, on
leaves that might host hungry insects.

J. THOMAS BARNES (BEE); TURGAY MALIKLI (LADYBUG)

 Awesome
Insects!

GOLDSTREIFIGER BEETLE
 GOLDSTREIFIGER BEETLE
A If a fellow bug tried to scratch
this beetle’s back, its colors
would come off.
FALSE: The sparkly effect comes from the
shell’s inside structure, not its outside.
B These beetles would stay up late
at a sleepover with their pals.
FALSE: The insect spends its days alone
in the sunlight of European pine forests.
C Scientists spot more female Gold-
streifiger beetles than males.
TRUE: Females sometimes lay their eggs
near the forest floor, so they’re easier to
find. Males are usually hiding in trees.
D Forests are afraid of this beetle’s
larvae, which eats trees.
FALSE: Larvae help forests by eating
dead logs. They break the wood into
smaller pieces, which decompose faster,
so nutrients return to the soil.
SAVE THE INSECTS TIP: “Make a
garden,” bug scientist Zak Gezon says.
“Anything from a pollinator garden with
flowers to a container garden on a porch.”

EPHOTOCORP / ALAMY (BEETLE); TURGAY MALIKLI (LADYBUG)

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