SPRING 2019

EGG-LAYER SPECIAL KOMODO DRAGONS MIDWIFE TOADS CROCODILES ECHIDNAS SHARKS

MeetMeet somesome ofof thethe world’sworld’s mostmost EGGEGGcitingciting animalsanimals thisthis spring!spring! PLUS PUZZLES, FAST FACTS AND CRACKING JOKES ALL ABOUT... eggs!eggs! With Easter coming up, we’re celebrating all the animals that lay eggs – from reptiles and birds to frogs and fish. Creatures that lay eggs are known as OVIPAROUS (sounds like “oh-vip-are-us”), and their eggs come in all shapes and sizes! For example, birds usually lay small clutches of shelled eggs, while many fish produce thousands of tiny, invisible eggs at once. In this EGGcellent issue of Wild About Explorers, you will meet real-life dragons, naughty birds and strange sharks... Eggs-treme animals SOME CREATURES HAVE INCREDIBLE EGG-LAYING SKILLS! CAN YOU MATCH THESE RECORD-BREAKING ANIMALS WITH THE FACTS BOTTOM RIGHT? Ostrich Emperor FOUND: In Africa’s penguin hot savannahs FOUND: In the bitter cold and woodlands of Antarctica HEIGHT: 2.7 metres tall HEIGHT: 115cm – around FUN FACT: Ostriches the height of an average are the biggest six-year-old Ocean sunfish birds in the world. FUN FACT: Dads help FOUND: In warm waters to look after the eggs, across the world balancing them on HEIGHT: Four metres their feet and keeping them warm with their FUN FACT: These strange- feathered belly pouches. looking fish are surprisingly slow and clumsy swimmers.

A Produces the most eggs at once (300 million during the breeding season) B Lays the world’s biggest eggs (up to 1.5kg – about the

Eggs-treme Animalsostrich– B; – ocean sunfishA;– emperor penguinC.– same as a bag of flour) C Eggs take the longest to hatch out (up to two months) Answers:

2

DID YOU KNOW? Scrambled egg HISTORY’S LARGEST CAN YOU UNRAVEL THE LETTERS KNOWN EGG COULD MAKE 100 BELOW TO DISCOVER WHICH TYPE OF AVERAGE-SIZED OMELETTES! IT WAS LAID BY AN EXTINCT BIRD LAYS THE SMALLEST EGGS? CREATURE CALLED THE ELEPHANT BIRD, AND WAS OVER 30CM HIGH. EggEgg hunthunt There are lots of egg-laying animals at ZSL London and Whipsnade Zoos – see if you can find those in the list in our word search. Tip: words can be horizontal or vertical!

D U C K Q E M U L B H D BEETLE IGUANA BUTTERFLY NEWT S Y B O U I O CLOWNFISH OWL S N C P W T G W F CROCODILE PARROT P T A R A N T U L A N DUCK PENGUIN EAGLE SNAKE B O K O R F E A G L E EMU STORK E R E C R I R N Q C W FALCON TARANTULA FROG TOAD E K U O O S F A V O T FLAMINGO TURTLE T O A D T H L N X N A L S F I V K Y F R O G E C F L A M I N G O A G P E N G U I N Z hummingbird S T U R T L E Scrambled– Egg Answer:

3 toad!toad! MeetMeet thethe midwifemidwife Many amphibians, such as frogs, toads, newts and salamanders, YOU CAN SEE lay eggs. But the midwife toad is no ordinary amphibian! Once OUR MIDWIFE the female has laid her eggs, her mate will carry them on his TOADS UP-CLOSE AT ZSL LONDON back legs to keep them safe. After around 36 days, the eggs are ZOO ready to hatch, and the male releases them into small streams.

Picture perfect Can you work out which puzzle piece completes this picture of a midwife toad carrying its eggs? B ? A d PicturePerfect C – C Answer:

Find a friend 3 To attract a mate, male midwife 2 toads make a high-pitched noise, c which sounds like ‘pi…pi…pi’. 1 Follow the trails to work out which male and female toads belong together. YOU DIDKNOW? UNTIL THE MALLORCAN MIDWIFE TOAD WAS DISCOVERED IN 1977, SCIENTISTS THOUGHT IT HAD BEEN EXTINCT FOR OVER WHAT DO 2,000 YEARS! FROGS DRINK? CROAK-A-COLA! b Find a Friend1A, – 2C, 3B

a Answers: 4 BrilliantBrilliant birdsbirds Everyone knows that birds lay eggs – but some have EGGStra-special ways of hatching their young!

When you live on a cliff, looking after Stealthy your eggs can be tricky. The GUILLEMOT, stealer a large seabird that nests on rock ledges, has found a solution to this problem. Instead of building their own Its eggs are long and pointed, which nests, cuckoos lay their eggs stops them rolling off the cliff in the homes of other birds! edge! The eggs even have Cuckoos often produce eggs a water-repellent shell that are the same colour and to ward off dirt. pattern as the others in the nest, to trick the real nest owner into thinking the imposter egg is her own. Once hatched, the young cuckoo will kick any other eggs or chicks out of the nest.

Going cuckoo After spending the winter in warmer countries further south, cuckoos fly back to the UK each How many spring. Unscramble the letters eggs (broken or below to discover the one-word unbroken!) can you name for this seasonal journey. count in this picture? AIR MINT GO

Brilliant Birds Going– 10. Cuckoo migration – YOU DIDKNOW?

Answers: BIRDS ARE LIVING RELATIONS OF DINOSAURS!

5 WHICH ANIMALS LAY THE MOST WeirdWeird andand UNUSUAL EGGS? FROM STRANGE SHARKS TO SPIKY MAMMALS, wonderful READ ON TO MEET SOME wonderful INCREDIBLE CREATURES...

Egg-layingEgg-laying echidnasechidnas DID YOU THIS ODD-LOOKING ANIMAL HAS SPINES LIKE A HEDGEHOG, A SLENDER KNOW? SNOUT AND POWERFUL DIGGING CLAWS! HAPPY IN BOTH HOT AND COLD ECHIDNAS CAN GO TEMPERATURES, IT LIVES IN DESERTS AND SNOWY MOUNTAINS ACROSS FOR A MONTH WITHOUT EATING. AUSTRALIA AND NEW GUINEA, WHERE IT FEEDS ON ANTS AND TERMITES.

Spot the difference When a female echidna is pregnant, she lays her egg in a special pouch on her stomach. The egg stays in this cosy space for 11 days, until her baby hatches. The youngster lives in mum’s pouch for up to eight weeks, feeding on her thick milk. See if can you spot seven differences between these two echidna pictures. 1. sun higher,2. storksfacing other 3.way, kangaroo missing, 4. echidna’s Copycat CAN YOU COPY Shark surprise THIS PICTURE OF A HORN SHARK’S Many sharks give birth to live young, but some lay EGG IN THE SPACE BELOW? eggs. The eggs of the California horn shark are very unusual – they are spiral-shaped! This allows females to wedge their eggs into narrow cracks, keeping them

as safe as possible from predators until the young Spot the Difference – sharks hatch. Answers: eyebrowmissing, 5. echidna’s leg missing, 6.extra spines onechidna’s forehead, extra7. emu

WHERE DO SHARKS GO ON HOLIDAY? FIN-LAND!

6 CRAZy CROCODILECROCODILE COLOURING!COLOURING! They may look scary, but crocodiles make excellent mums! Females dig a nest for their eggs and then guard them until the young hatch out, making sure they are warm enough and safe from predators. After hatching, the young crocs will often hitch a lift to water in their mother’s mouth! ! Have fun colouring in this picture of a crocodile brood.

LOOK OUT FOR OUR DWARF CROCODILES AT ZSL WHIPSNADE ZOO AND PHILIPPINE CROCODILES 1. sun higher,2. storksfacing other 3.way, kangaroo missing, 4. echidna’s AT ZSL LONDON ZOO.

DID YOU

KNOW? BABY CROCODILES CALL OUT TO THEIR MUM FROM

Spot the Difference – THE EGG WHEN THEY’RE READY TO HATCH! Answers: eyebrowmissing, 5. echidna’s leg missing, 6.extra spines onechidna’s forehead, extra7. emu

Once you have coloured in your picture, send it to us – the most creative entry will receive an adorable cuddly penguin from the ZSL shop. Email your entry to us at [email protected], or post it to Wild About, ZSL London Zoo, Regent’s Park, London NW1 4RY with your name, age and postal address. Your image must arrive by 30 July 2019 to be in with a chance of winning. Email the same address for full terms and conditions.

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