The Week Junior UK - Issue 189, 27 July 2019

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Goodweek /Badweek

Wreckfish

South Australian animals

Some Australian animalscould be

culled (killed toreducenumbers),

because they areharming the local

environment.Areport says thereare

too manykoalas, western grey

kangaroos, long-nosed fur seals and

little core lla cockatoos in some areas,

but culling is just one suggestion.

Scottishwildcats

Tworarekittens have been born as

part ofawildcatcaptive-breeding

project in the Scottish Highlands.

They arenow exploring their home at

the Aigas FieldCentrenearBeauly.

Populations aredecreasing, but in the

futureitishoped that kittens like

thesecanbereleased into the wild.

Do youloveanimals? ZSLLondonZoo’s JuniorZooAcademy isagreat waytolearn

about creatures from alloverthe world. Find out moreatzsl.org/experiences

Howlong can an otter hold

tsbreath underwater?

On average, otterscanhold their breath

underwater for about eight minutes,

depending on their age, sizeand species.

They hunt prey such as fish, shellfish and

spikysea urchins. Otters spendathirdof

their time in thewater andcanclose their

ears and nostrils tokeep them dry.Air

pockets in their thick furcoat keep them

warm and dry,and grooming is an

important part of otter behaviour.

GOOD

●LIFESPAN IN THE WILD:Believed to be up to 90 years.

●HABITAT:Lives around structures such ascaves and

rockyground in oceans around the world.

●DIET:Crabs, fish, lobsters, squid and other marine

animals.

●FUN FACT:The wreckfish gets its name because itcan

often be found swimming near shipwrecks.

H

i

AS

KA

Z

O

OK

EEP

E

R

Awreckfish has been filmedeating small sharksthat had

been preying onadeadswordfish. The wreckfish, which

lives deep in the ocean, is thought to have been attracted

to the dead fish, lying about 450 metres below the sea

surface, because it knew therewould be other animals

theretohunt. Wreckfishcangrowuptotwo metres long.

LukeHarvey

Deputyteam leader of predators,

ZSL London Zoo

27 July 2019•The Week Junior 11

BEN JONES

·NAT

URE PICTURE LIBRAR

Y·

REX SHUTTERSTOCK

·ALAMY

·GETTY IMAGES

Animal

week

BAD

ofthe

A

group of protesterscalled Extinction

Rebellion has taken to the streets of cities

across the UK toraise awareness of the threat

that climate change poses to the environment.

Climate change is the long-term shift in

weather patterns, including rising

temperatures,caused by human activities

such as cutting down forests,farming and

burning fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas).

Campaigners blocked traffic

by sitting inroads in

London, Bristol, Cardiff

Glasgow andLeeds

as part of a

week-longwave of

action. The protests

werenon-violent

and some of the

activists apologised forcausing disruption.

The group says that the issue of climate

change is too important for politicians to

ignore, and says this is one of the bestways

of drawing attention to the problem.

Extinction Rebellionwants the

Government to do moretot ackle climate

change, and has planned moreprotests

throughout the summer.InA pril, protesters

carried out 10 days of action in

n. They blockedroads,

imbed onto trains so

that theycouldn’t

move, and glued

themselves together

in chains to stop

eople going into

ernment buildings.

ff,

Londo

cl

p

Gove

DIDYOU

KNOW?

June^201

9was the ho

ttest

June on

record.T

heaverage

temperatur

eacros

sthe planet

washott

er than the pr

evious

recordse

tinJune

201 6.

Protesters in

centralLondon.