скачать книгу бесплатно
National Geographic Kids Chapters: Lucky Leopards: And More True Stories of Amazing Animal Rescues
Aline Alexander Newman
National Kids Geographic
Based on the hit feature in National Geographic Kids magazine, we bring you Lucky Leopards, true and inspiring stories of daring animal rescues that will engage and enchant readers of all ages.Packed with full-color photography, and written in fun and lively prose that empowers readers to keep turning pages, these heart-warming stories will leave kids hungry for more of the animal "awwww" factor.National Geographic Kids Chapters picks up where the best-selling National Geographic Readers series leaves off. This new series offers young animal lovers, who are ready for short chapters with lively, true stories just right to carry in a backpack, share with friends, and read under the covers at night.National Geographic supports K-12 educators with ELA Common Core Resources.Visit www.natgeoed.org/commoncore for more information.
Copyright © 2014 National Geographic Society
All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission from the publisher is prohibited.
Published by the National Geographic Society
John M. Fahey, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
Declan Moore, Executive Vice President; President, Publishing and Travel
Melina Gerosa Bellows, Executive Vice President; Chief Creative Officer, Books, Kids, and Family
Prepared by the Book Division
Hector Sierra, Senior Vice President and General Manager
Nancy Laties Feresten, Senior Vice President, Kids Publishing and Media
Jay Sumner, Director of Photography, Children’s Publishing
Jennifer Emmett, Vice President, Editorial Director, Children’s Books
Eva Absher-Schantz, Design Director, Kids Publishing and Media
R. Gary Colbert, Production Director
Jennifer A. Thornton, Director of Managing Editorial
Staff for This Book
Becky Baines, Project Editor
Eva Absher-Schantz, Art Director
Kelley Miller, Senior Photo Editor
Ruthie Thompson, Designer
Ariane Szu-Tu, Editorial Assistant
Callie Broaddus, Design Production Assistant
Grace Hill, Associate Managing Editor
Joan Gossett, Production Editor
Marfé Ferguson Delano, Release Editor
Lewis R. Bassford, Production Manager
Susan Borke, Legal and Business Affairs
Jennifer Raichek, Intern
Production Services
Phillip L. Schlosser, Senior Vice President
Chris Brown, Vice President, NG Book Manufacturing
George Bounelis, Vice President, Production Services
Nicole Elliott, Manager
Rachel Faulise, Manager
Robert L. Barr, Manager
The National Geographic Society is one of the world’s largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations. Founded in 1888 to “increase and diffuse geographic knowledge,” the Society’s mission is to inspire people to care about the planet. It reaches more than 400 million people worldwide each month through its official journal, National Geographic, and other magazines; National Geographic Channel; television documentaries; music; radio; films; books; DVDs; maps; exhibitions; live events; school publishing programs; interactive media; and merchandise. National Geographic has funded more than 10,000 scientific research, conservation, and exploration projects and supports an education program promoting geographic literacy.
For more information, please visit www.nationalgeographic.com (http://www.nationalgeographic.com), call 1-800-NGS LINE (647-5463), or write to the following address: National Geographic Society 1145 17th Street N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036-4688 U.S.A.
Visit us online at nationalgeographic.com/books (http://nationalgeographic.com/books)
For librarians and teachers:
ngchildrensbooks.org (http://ngchildrensbooks.org)
More for kids from National Geographic:
kids.nationalgeographic.com (http://kids.nationalgeographic.com)
For rights or permissions inquiries, please contact National Geographic Books Subsidiary Rights: ngbookrights@ngs.org (mailto:ngbookrights@ngs.org)
Trade paperback
ISBN: 978-1-4263-1457-5
Reinforced library edition
ISBN: 978-1-4263-1458-2
eBook ISBN: 978-1-4263-1607-4
v3.1
Version: 2017-07-10
Cover (#u0459fc06-2063-5132-a30e-9f9cd9314582)
Title Page (#uabb66f40-a961-5490-8c66-9d277fc4cf36)
Copyright (#uba39c1d2-9e33-5958-ac1a-6baa2371b894)
RUNA AND KATA: Lucky Leopards (#u9c201cfb-cc6d-526e-a6d0-e60360f18106)
Chapter 1: Jungle Kittens (#u0a725342-e70d-5291-8164-9de37ba792ef)
Chapter 2: A Bold Plan (#u2408585f-9e55-5b59-aaa3-00b9c964a3b7)
Chapter 3: Tough Love (#litres_trial_promo)
KOA: Turtle in Trouble (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 1: Wrong-Way Sea Turtle (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 2: Hurry! Hurry! (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 3: Swim Away Home (#litres_trial_promo)
CROOKED NECK: The Lone Loon (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 1: Double Trouble (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 2: The Long Chase (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 3: Free at Last (#litres_trial_promo)
Sneak Preview of Courageous Canine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 1: Love at First Sight (#litres_trial_promo)
More Information (#litres_trial_promo)
Dedication (#litres_trial_promo)
Credits (#litres_trial_promo)
Acknowledgments (#litres_trial_promo)
Runa and Kata explore the forest. Their spotted coats blend in with the leaves.
Runa and Kata nuzzle each other. They are as soft and cuddly as pet kittens.
March 2009, Assam, India
People watched their step in the Assam (sounds like ah-SAHM) jungle in northeast India. Roads were few and made of dirt. Trees grew so close together they almost touched. And bushy plants and fallen logs covered the forest floor. You never knew when a hungry tiger or slithering python might surprise you. This place was wild. It belonged to the animals.
Two of those animals lay sleeping in a hollow tree. They were newborn kittens, or cubs. Their mother had left them alone while she went hunting for food. The cubs should have been safe. Except before the mama returned, some woodcutters came.
The woodcutters lived in a village on the edge of the forest, in a part of India called Kokrajhar (sounds like co-kruh-JAR). They earned money by gathering firewood to sell. One man saw the hollow tree. He chopped it down with his ax. The tree landed with a thud. Then he got a big surprise.
Two tiny furballs bounced out! The startled woodcutter dropped his ax. He scooped up the tiny cats. They mewed softly. Their gray spotted coats felt as soft as a baby chick. What are they? the man wondered. Baby tigers or baby leopards?
It didn’t matter. The cubs were adorable. And there was no danger in picking them up. The babies’ eyes hadn’t even opened yet. If only I could sell these cats, he thought.
The woodcutter was very poor. He knew that wild-animal dealers would pay big money for the cubs. Then the dealers would sell the cubs for even more money. Rich collectors from other countries paid thousands of dollars for wild animals to put in their backyard zoos.
Even if no dealers came along, the cubs were a good find. Maybe the woodcutter could sell them as pets. Or his neighbors might buy them. Some men tied animal parts to their swords. This was a custom, or tradition, in his village. Some people hung animal skins up to decorate their huts. Local healers also used animal parts to make medicine.
The woodcutter knew it was wrong to capture wild animals. It was wrong to sell them too. The Indian government had laws against these things. But the thought of all the money he could make dazzled him. What if he could make $200 selling the cubs? That would be like winning the lottery! With that much money he could feed his family for many months.
Did You Know?
There are 37 different kinds of cats. The biggest are tigers, lions, leopards, jaguars, cheetahs, and pumas.
The woodcutter carried the cubs home. Then he quietly spread the word. He had jungle cats for sale.
But his plan went wrong. He didn’t know how to take care of the cubs. He didn’t know how to feed them. Or even what to feed them! Another villager became worried. He told a forest department worker named Akhim (sounds like ah-KEEM) about the cubs. Akhim went to the woodcutter. He demanded the kittens. The woodcutter turned them over.
Akhim rushed the baby cats to the local wildlife rescue center. It was run by the Wildlife Trust of India. It was not a moment too soon. The cubs hadn’t eaten in days. “One of them was seriously sick,” says Sonali Ghosh (sounds like so-NAH-lee GOUSH). Sonali is an officer with the Indian Forest Service. “I was scared it might die,” she said.
The rescue center veterinarians (sounds like vet-er-ih-NARE-ee-ens) examined the baby cats. “These are common leopards,” the vets decided. The common leopard is the kind most “commonly” seen. There are also snow leopards, clouded leopards, and Sunda clouded leopards.
Everyone at the rescue center treated the cubs with great care. Workers fed the kittens around the clock. They gave them goat’s milk, using baby bottles.
Leopards are meat-eaters. So the vets wanted the cubs to get a taste for meat. After about three weeks, the workers started mixing liver soup in with the goat’s milk.
The cubs ate a lot. They grew fast. As they got bigger, the markings on their coats became easier to see. One day the vets noticed something very interesting. The spots on these cubs looked different from the spots on common leopards. They were darker and grayer.
Did You Know?
As babies, clouded leopards have blue eyes. Later their eyes turn yellow.
The vets looked at each other. They wondered …
Could it be?
Yes! These cubs weren’t common leopards after all. They were clouded leopards. Extremely rare, almost never seen, clouded leopards!
Clouded leopards and common leopards are both big cats. But they are not the same kind, or species (sounds like SPEE-sheez), of cat. They are as different from each other as lions are from tigers.
COMMON LEOPARDS
