12 Epic Animal Adventures

12 Epic Animal Adventures — page 1 — 1 Fairy Penguins Parade Each Evening in Australia It’s a little before sunset on Phillip Island Australia Hundreds of people gather on stands on the boardwalk They keep watch on the beach Darkness falls Everyone keeps their eyes on the sea Suddenly the crowd gasps Someone yells Look Over there One by one and then in swarms penguins pop out of the sea They hurry across the beach and make their way to their burrows Some penguins parade single file Others waddle together in packs The penguins on parade are little blue penguins Australians call them fairy penguins At only 13 to 15 inches 36 to 42 cm tall they are the smallest penguins Fairy penguins stay in groups of two to ten for safety 4

12 Epic Animal Adventures — page 2 — 32,000 Little blue penguins living on Phillip Island Little blue penguins go fishing an hour or two before sunrise each day They return to land shortly after sunset Hundreds of people watch the penguins return to shore each night PENGUIN JUMPERS Penguin jumpers are not jumping penguins They are penguin sweaters Oil the size of a thumbnail can kill a little penguin If oil gets on their feathers they can swallow it during preening Sweaters are placed on penguins caught in an oil spill This keeps the penguins from preening until they can be cleaned in the world The parade begins each evening when the penguins arrive home from a day of fishing They wait until just after sunset The penguins hope to escape the notice of hungry birds such as Pacific gulls and sea eagles Within an hour most of the 2,000 penguins living nearby have returned to their burrows They settle in for the night One or two hours before sunrise they wake They swim out to sea to fish again Sweaters keep the penguins from preening until oil can be cleaned from their feathers 5

12 Epic Animal Adventures — page 3 — 2 Endangered Animals Gather in the Okavango Delta The Okavango Delta is a huge oasis in the Kalahari Desert Located in the northern part of Botswana it is home to some of the most endangered mammals in the world Black and white rhinos cheetahs lions and African wild dogs all live there Some animals live in the delta year-round Others follow the water Summer in the delta begins in October The waters recede as the air heats up Summer rains start to fall in November This brings only temporary relief to the area The delta waters do not rise The rains stop falling in April or May The land begins to dry Upstream the river starts flooding The water flows making its way to the delta Mammal species found in the Okavango Delta The Okavango Delta collects water from the Okavango River The height of the water 130 in the delta varies throughout the year The delta is home to a wide variety of animals plants and birds 6 Travel in a mokoro in the Okavango Delta

12 Epic Animal Adventures — page 4 — A SPECIAL DELTA Most river deltas are fan like areas at the end of a river Water collects in the delta before flowing into the sea The Okavango Delta is different It is an inland delta Its water filters down into the Kalahari Desert sands at the end of its winter season The delta waters peak between July and September This is a good time to see large herds of African elephant buffalo and zebra They drink splash and play in the Okavango Delta’s clear water Islands dot the flooded area Some are made from stands of trees Some are termite mounds sticking up above the surface Visitors explore the area by boat The adventurous ones travel in a local dugout canoe called a mokoro Hippos crocodiles and tiny reed frogs live in and around the water Other animals and birds come to drink or fish The Okavango is home to many elephants 7

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