Eco Kids Planet Issue 73 Marvellous Marsupials by Eco Kids Planet

Award-Winning Kids’ Nature Magazine

FABULOUS ‘FLYING’ MARSUPIALS

Wild News!

Marvellous Marsupials

NTS’ CHOI

CHARLIE MEETS A TASMANIAN DEVIL!

CUTE KOALAS!

D A WA R

2020

Issue 73

Fun Projects, Puzzles and Stunning Posters

What's inside this

ISSUE

PLUS! 3

A Letter from Kylie the Quokka The world’s happiest animal

Kingdom of Marsupials Let’s take a trip down under to Australia

8 Charlie Meets a Tasmanian devil!

10 Amy Investigates Cute Koalas Tree-dwelling leaf-munching marvellous marsupials

The world’s largest meat-eating marsupial

Fabulous ‘Flying’ Marsupials! Discover the gliders of the night

Virginia Opossums Amelia the Fox comic

Quiz Planet Crossword, puzzles and jokes

Over to You Your letters and creations

24 Simon Investigates 28 Is It a Squirrel? Marsupial Weirdness Is It a Meerkat? No, The strangest, most surprising It’s a… NUMBAT! marsupials on Earth

Endangered Creature Feature

Bonfire Collage Create some awesome autumn art

Marsupial Poems Enter this month’s competition

Sugar Glider

Papua New Guinea

Cuddlin Mother Koala ey Jo d, Australia herens lan Que

Cover: Koala with Young © Dave Watts/naturepl.com

17 Wildlife News

Two Posters

Stock Photo © Minden Pictures/Alamy

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Kylie

Letter from

the Quokka

G’day possums – I mean Eco Kids – and welcome to your magazine! This issue is all about marvellous marsupials, and golly I’m feeling marvellous! Because my name’s Kylie and I’m a quokka, officially the WORLD’S HAPPIEST ANIMAL. More importantly, I’m super-cute – check out my dinky grin and chubby cheeks! I’m a teddy-bear-sized, button-eyed, fluffy marsupial.

Hey, visit any time – we’re always here, always smiling!

Kylie xx

/ es ur

I just love bouncing around, being happy, getting up to mischief, munching greens, even climbing trees if I feel like showing off… Nah, only kidding – I climb trees for grub, silly! I store fat in my tail, so can go for ages without food.

t Pic

A few years back, this one fella arrived on the island and took a selfie with yours truly (that means ‘me’). My cuteness factor was OFF THE SCALE and the pic went totally VIRAL… Awesome news for the island quokkas. More and more tourists arrived for selfies, and the more

It’s a strictly ‘look but don’t touch’ situation. And definitely no feeding. (Someone gave my uncle Ned a Vegemite sandwich last month and he got a really nasty case of ‘lumpy jaw’.) We may look like soft toys, but we’re still wild creatures.

We quokkas only live in south-western Australia. Things hadn’t been going too well on the mainland for my cousins, what with the fox predators, habitat loss and the rest, but that all changed on Rottnest Island, where my mates and I hang out.

who come, the more we flourish!

Al am yS

tock Photo

What better place to begin our mega marsupials magazine than Australia…

KINGDOM OF MARSUPIALS!

First things first, what is a marsupial? Good question! All marsupials (pronounced “mar-soop-ee-als”) are mammals. Mammals – including us humans – are warm-blooded animals with hair (or fur) and backbones. They feed their young with milk and have well-developed brains. So, what makes marsupials different? It’s this. The young of many mammals develop in their mum’s womb, over many months, and are born pretty much fully formed – again, like us humans. But that’s not the case with marsupial babies. They’re born much earlier in their development – tiny, blind and helpless. Their eyes, ears, organs and limbs still aren’t properly formed. That’s because marsupial babies do most of their developing outside the womb! Most are carried in a pouch on their mother’s

belly, which keeps them safe as they grow. Those special, snug pouches are what marsupials are famous for, but not all marsupials have them. Famous larger marsupials include kangaroos, wallabies and eucalyptusmunching koalas. There are also marsupial mice and moles, and even marsupials that glide through the air!

Fun Fact An adult red kangaroo can be up to 90,000 times heavier than its newborn baby! The country with most marsupials by far is Australia. Over half of its land mammals are marsupials, with at least 200 species living there. So, you might think Australia must be the country where they all came from in the first place. But it isn’t!

Marsupial monsters Giant marsupials once prowled the Australian wilderness. The plant-eating diprotodon was about the size of a modern rhinoceros – but was a giant wombat relative! It’s the biggest known marsupial ever. © Stocktrek Images, Inc./Alamy Stock Photo

The oldest marsupials we know of are from North America. They started evolving at least 125 million years ago. Some became plant and seed-eaters, others meat-eaters. In time, they expanded into South America. But how did they get across 100km of ocean to Australia?

Opossums are the only marsupials found in North America today. When their young get bigger, they ride on Mum’s back!

They didn’t have to! Back then, South America and Australia were both connected to Antarctica. So, the common ancestor of today’s Australian marsupials must have migrated across Antarctica to Australia. Does that sound like a f-f-freezing trip? Not so! Antarctica wasn’t covered in ice at the time. It had rainforests and quite mild temperatures.

There were also giant kangaroos. The largest stood over 2.5 metres tall – much bigger than an adult human! But they weren’t boinging around, leaving huge holes all over Australia; they were too heavy to hop! The marsupial lion wasn’t a true lion, but its oversized teeth were deadly slicing weapons. This pouched predator possibly had the most powerful bite force for its size of any known mammal!

Mother of marsupials The earliest marsupial fossil we’ve found in Australia is a djarthia. This mouselike animal lived 55 million years ago. It may even be the mother of all today’s Australian marsupials! But not every marsupial was cute and cuddly…

Fun Fact Marsupials were around for at least 70 million years before they got to Australia!

A marsupial lion’s scary skull – just look at those jaws!

We think climate change killed off these monsters. Hotter weather made the land more desert-like and increased fires. Early humans may also have hunted them.

Living in a Pouch A shrinking siblings micro-mission!

Have you ever wondered what it’s like inside a marsupial’s pouch? Eco Kids Rhona and Rusty have a superpower – they can shrink to a tiny size – so they decided to find out! Rhona: I had the great idea of us sneaking into a kangaroo’s pouch to see what it’s like inside for the joey. It couldn’t be messier than Rusty’s bedroom! Rusty: Actually, it was all my idea. So, we found a ’roo whose baby is about five months old. That means he comes out sometimes.

Rusty: That’s when we realised how gross that pouch was! It’s lined with sweat glands that ooze wet stuff. Rhona: I think it’s to protect the joey from viruses and bacteria. Rusty: And there are four nipples in there, which can squirt different types of milk! Rhona: They’re to feed joeys of different ages. Quite amazing, really! Rusty: Even worse, we discovered that joeys poo and wee in their pouches. BLEUGH!

Rhona: And when he did, we shrank down and crept inside.

Rhona: That’s why the mum started cleaning it...

Rusty: Let me tell it, Rhona! It’s not furry in there – the pouch is skin to skin. It was quite airy, too, like being in a hammock…

Rusty: ...with her tongue – while we were inside! So, we’ve been licked and sweated on and even worse.

Rhona: …until the mum started hopping after her joey! She has powerful muscles around her pouch, and it suddenly tightened. We got pressed hard against her belly.

Rhona: But it’s still not as bad as Rusty’s bedroom!

Vocabulary Joey: A baby marsupial.

And what about marsupials without pouches? America’s short-tailed opossums have no pouch. Their joeys have to cling to their mother’s nipples and fur for their first few weeks of life. It’s the same for termite-eating numbats. Their newborn joeys must travel up to their mother’s nipples and cling on if they want to survive!

Now get ready to meet lots more amazing marsupials… ANSWER:

It only takes a few minutes. But that’s enough travelling for the joey for a long time!

When a kangaroo’s joey is born, it’s peanut-sized and blind. So how does it get into the pouch in the first place? The answer is: it has to climb there, without any help! As soon as it’s born, it grips on to its mother’s fur and uses its tiny forelegs to climb up her body to the pouch. They start practising climbing when they’re still inside their mum, up to three days before they’re born.

But how long do you think the tiny kangaroo’s deeply risky journey to the pouch takes? Guess, then hop below for the answer.

A 30-day-old newborn joey feeds inside its mother’s pouch

Mum, can I have a TV in my room?

Devil! a Tasmanian

It’s me, Charlie, the Eco Kid who can talk to animals. This time, I’m meeting the mammal with the world’s best bone-crushing jaws – ulp! Charlie: I was hoping I’d get to meet a cute and cuddly looking marsupial, like a koala, this issue. Instead, I’ve been sent to a forest on Australia’s island of Tasmania to meet a Tasmanian devil. They’re the world’s largest meat-eating marsupials, with a super-powerful bite. They’re also said to fly into a really bad temper, so I’m a bit worried. After all, they wouldn’t be called devils for no reason! Tassie, are you around?

Tassie: Yes, useful things, tails. We store fat in ours! But don’t think we’re not fit. We can climb trees, we’re great swimmers, and we can run fast. Charlie: So, what kind of things do you eat? N-n-not young boys, I hope. Tassie: Ha, no. Our prey is smaller things: frogs, birds, bugs and other insects. Charlie: So, you’re keen hunters? Tassie: We do hunt live prey but we’re more like scavengers. We prefer carrion. Charlie: What’s that?

Charlie: You’re so stocky I thought you were a little bear cub for a second.

Tassie: Dead or rotting flesh. It’s great when we find a big carcass. Slurp! But we’ll eat anything that’s lying around, really, even if it’s old and rotten. Flesh, bones, fur…

Tassie: Well, I like to eat. Some nights I eat up to 40% of my body weight!

Charlie: Yuck! And do you really fly into a rage?

Charlie: Impressive! That’s a nice plump tail you’ve got, too.

Tassie: I only fight over food. But it’s only because I’m worried I’ll lose it. Why,

Tassie: Hello, Charlie! I usually only come out at night but I came to see you.

Charlie Meets…

you’re not planning on stealing my food, are you? You’d better NOT be! DON’T YOU DARE TRY TO PINCH MY FOOD, CHARLIE, GRRRROWWWL! SCREECH! Charlie: Calm down, Tassie. I’d never want to eat carrion – or bugs and frogs and stuff. Let’s change the subject. You’re a marsupial, so do you have a pouch to carry your young? Tassie: Of course! Charlie: And how many babies will you have? Tassie: I could have 20 or 30. Maybe even 40 or 50! Charlie: Not all at one time? Tassie: Yes! Charlie: Wow. Your pouch must be packed with nipples for them to suck milk from. Tassie: No, only four.

Charlie: How on Earth do so many babies share just four?

Tassie: They don’t. There’s an incredible race to my pouch as soon as they’re born. They’re not much bigger than a grain of rice, the poor things. And only the ones who reach the four nipples first will survive.

Charlie: That’s brutal! So, where do you live, Tassie? Tassie: I have a nice, hollow log. You can stop over for the night, if you like. I’ll be out looking for food, so you’ll have it all to yourself. Charlie: Er, that’s OK, thanks. I have a hotel room, though I’m sure it’s not as nice as your log. In fact, I’d better start heading back there. I don’t think Tasmanian devils are as scary as people think. I’ve heard they often yawn if they see a human coming. It’s because they’re nervous, not because they find us boring! Sadly, Tasmanian devils are an endangered species. There’s a horrible disease that’s killed thousands of them. Usually, Tasmania is the only place they’re found. They became extinct on the Australian mainland thousands of years ago. A mix of aggressive dingoes, human activity and dry seasons caused by climate change may have wiped them all out there. But 26 devils have just been reintroduced there. I wonder if they’ll survive.

Cute koalas Hi, Amy here!

Moving on from last issue’s creepy yet incredible cave creatures to a tree-dwelling leaf-munching marvellous marsupial! This month, I’m investigating one of the most adorable animal species on the planet. They’re super-cute, cuddly and live in Australia. That’s right, we’re talking… KOALAS! Quick key koala facts: • KOALAS are a national symbol of Australia’s wildlife. • PLEASE DON’T ever call them bears – koalas are MARSUPIALS. • The name ‘KOALA’ comes from an Aboriginal (the indigenous people of Australia) word meaning ‘no drink’. • Koalas sleep between 18 and 22 hours per day. (YAWN!)

HABITAT & DIET Koalas eat 500g of eucalyptus leaves every night – sometimes up to a kilogram! (That’s a lot of greens…)

There is only one species of koala but 600 different types of eucalyptus. Koalas eat fewer than 50 of them. Bizarrely, eucalyptus is full of toxins. But luckily, koalas have evolved special microbes in their stomachs to break them down. They get everything they need – including water – from eucalyptus vegetation, so rarely have to drink.

As well as being poisonous, eucalyptus leaves are high in fibre and low in

Koala bodies are perfectly adapted for life up high… A cushioned bum: densely packed fur on their bottoms means they can sit comfortably in branches for long periods of time.

They snooze in the cosy nooks and crannies of eucalyptus branches and rarely climb down the tree. (I wonder if they DREAM of eucalyptus, too?)

A grooming claw

Paws ’n’ claws: both front and hind paws have long sharp claws and rough pads for super-gripping. The second and third toes on their hind paws are fused together. They use this special digit for grooming fur and removing ticks. No tail: but koalas do have four strong, muscular limbs for excellent climbing skills. Leathery nozzle: koalas have unusually large noses. Their super sense of smell means they can identify different sorts of eucalyptus – and avoid the most toxic varieties. nutrients (don’t sound too tasty, eh?). So koalas have to munch a massive amount to get their daily nourishment, which is why they sleep so much – to conserve energy. In fact, koalas eat so much eucalyptus, they SMELL of it! (Think soothing cough drops – nice!)

EATING & SLEEPING IN THE TREES Koalas basically eat leaves and live in trees, which means their habitat is also their breakfast, lunch and dinner!

Soft ’n’ furry: in fact, koala fur isn’t as soft as it looks. It’s thick and tough, like sheep wool. It’s also waterproof and keeps them warm in the winter. Curiously, koalas in southern Australia are a bit bigger and have thicker, browner fur than northern koalas. Adaptations to the colder winters in southern Australia? Probably!

Vocabulary Fibre: Thread-like parts that form plants.

LET'S TALK BABY KOALAS – AHHHH… Baby koalas are known as joeys and they are unbelievably cute. FACT. Like most other marsupials, koala mums (called does) have a special pouch to carry their young. These pouches appear to open backwards, instead of forwards like a kangaroo’s. Luckily, strong muscles that surround the opening stop the joey from falling out.

The koala babies are ready to emerge from the pouch after about six months. Still not ready to explore the world on their own, they cling on to their mother’s back until they are about a quarter of her size. That’s a heavy load! As well as drinking their mum’s milk, joeys also eat their mum’s poo, which is called pap.

YUCK! OK, I know it sounds gross but actually it’s genius. By eating pap, joeys are also getting some of their mum’s stomach microbes, meaning they, too, can digest eucalyptus. Bingo! Life diet sorted.

It’s never too early to say “I love you”

THREATS Koalas need a lot of space – around 100 trees per animal. Remember, eucalyptus trees are their home AND their main food source. But climate change is leading to an increase in bush fires, which means extreme habitat loss. Tens of thousands of koalas died in the devastating 2019-2020 bush fires. Droughts are also reducing water in eucalyptus leaves, which forces these adorable marsupials to leave their trees in search of water. As well as environmental disasters, logging has reduced habitat. And a horrible disease called chlamydia is sometimes deadly for koalas. There may be now only around 80,000 koalas left in Australia. Scientists believe they face extinction in New South Wales by 2050 unless action is taken…

Ready for a health check!

areas have this protection. Parks are likely to be on pieces of rugged land so small they become like islands that pen koalas in. Whereas koalas prefer the same sort of land people want for farming and urban development. 80% of koalas’ habitat is on privately owned land (such as farmland) rather than national parks. So, koala charities want laws made that will stop people from cutting down habitat on their land.

ECO KIDS UNITE: save the koala! People have been working hard to help. There are so many wonderful stories of koalas being rescued and released successfully back into the wild. Even the Australian army has been on koala rescue (and cuddle) duty. And one six-year-old raised over $250,000 for wildlife relief by making and selling tiny clay koalas!

Koala detection dogs There are special dogs that are trained to find koalas after bushfires by sniffing out their fur as well as their poo pellets.

Some final fuzzy marsupial facts and heart-warming stories… • Male koalas sure can BELLOW! They make a noise so deep and grunting, it sounds like it comes from an animal the size of an elephant! • One young koala was caught on film having a tantrum, just like a grumpy toddler! Interesting, because koalas are usually such sleepy, cuddly creatures.

And as well as having an excellent sense of smell, dogs can cover much more ground than humans – searching 100,000 or more trees per day. Finding koalas means they can be rescued if in immediate danger. Or have a water source set up on the ground for them.

National parks are an important way to protect small pockets of habitat and wildlife. But in Australia, very few

Getting rescued after wildfires: time to heal those injuries!

• Conservation superstar Izzy Bee is an Australian teenager known as the Koala Whisperer. She grew up in her mum’s veterinary practice and just loves koalas. She now has her own show on Netflix, called Izzy’s Koala World.

Vocabulary Rugged: Uneven and wild. Urban: Relating to a city or town.

Marsupials are amazingly super-cute. Just imagine if they could fly, too! Hang on – some of them CAN fly! Or, to be more accurate, they can GLIDE – an excellent evolutionary adaptation for getting from tree to tree! Marsupial gliders are not to be mistaken for flying squirrels. Squirrels are rodents. Flying marsupials are more closely related to kangaroos – cool, right? Let’s find out more about a few of these furry high flyers…

1. SUGAR GLIDER – adorable palm-sized possums

ADAPTATIONS The gliding membrane (thin skin) stretches from their fifth forefinger to their rear ankle. This gives sugar gliders a square shape in flight. They basically look like mini magic carpets gliding through the air. They can soar for over 50 metres!

Like all other gliders, sugar are NOCTURNAL. Huge black eyes are a useful adaptation for their night-time lifestyle.

LIFESTYLE Sugar gliders are sociable creatures. They nest in tree hollows in groups of up to 10 adults. When it gets cold, they huddle together. They can reduce their body temperature for short periods of time. This is called torpor and it helps them to save energy when winter temperatures drop below freezing.

EATS As their name suggests, sugar gliders have a sweet tooth. They enjoy nectar and pollen, as well as acacia and eucalyptus tree sap. But they also munch on spiders and beetles.

FAST FACT It was recently discovered that sugar gliders are not one species but three distinct types.

FABULOUS ‘FLYING’ MARSUPIALS!

2. GREATER GLIDER – super furry animals!

ADAPTATIONS Greater gliders are the largest glider species. But being super-fluffy, they look much BIGGER than they actually are (roughly domestic cat-sized). Their glide skin stretches from elbow to ankle, giving them a triangular shape in flight. They can sail for an impressive 100 metres! Magnificent in flight, their excess ‘flying’ skin makes them super-clumsy on the ground. Unlike other glider species, their tail is not prehensile (used for gripping). They use it like a rudder to guide them while gliding!

LIFESTYLE Unlike sugar gliders, greater gliders are shy and solitary. They keep up to 20 tree trunk dens on the go, gliding efficiently between them all! Quiet creatures, they mark their territory with scent.

EATS They live in the eucalyptus forests of eastern Australia. Like koalas, their diet is made up of eucalyptus, eucalyptus and more eucalyptus (flowers, buds and leaves).

FAST FACT: ECO KIDS UNITE!

Logging has meant the destruction of their precious habitat and food source. Greater gliders are now on the vulnerable list.

3. FEATHERTAIL GLIDER – smallest of the species, aka the flying mouse or pygmy glider!

ADAPTATIONS Feathertail gliders use their feathershaped tails to glide, steer, brake and secure themselves when landing. Serrated (jagged) pads on their feet mean super-grippy landing on smooth surfaces! Their gliding membrane is fringed with long hair to increase its surface area. They can float through the air for distances of up to 28 metres.

LIFESTYLE Feathertails live in groups of 5 to 30. They make dens in cosy places like empty birds’ nests, which they line with shredded bark and leaves. Being so mini means feathertails super-snuggle together when the temperature drops. They also curl into a ball and wrap their tails around themselves to keep warm. When food is in short supply or it gets REALLY cold, they also go into torpor to conserve energy (like sugar gliders).

EATS Insects, pollen, fungi, seeds and nectar. Their thin, long tongue (9-11mm) is well adapted for nectar-sipping!

FAST FACT They are the only known mammals to have a tail designed like a furry feather.

Wildlife

News!

There’s lots of marine animal news this time. My home country of Scotland gets a few mentions, too. It’s a great place, even though my annoying little brother Rusty also lives there!

14 . 0 N ! s t r o Rhona Rep

ROPES MAY SAVE THE RAREST APE! A simple rope bridge may help to save the world’s rarest primate from extinction! That’s the Hainan gibbon – there are only just over 30 left. They only exist in a forest on Hainan Island in the South China Sea.

Gibbons prefer to travel above ground by swinging from tree to tree – not so easy when the trees disappear! Big gaps in the forest stop them roaming too far and wide. That

messes with their breeding and food-finding. It also makes them easier prey for predators. Tree-chopping humans are often to blame, but this time a landslide was responsible. It left a huge gap in the forest, stopping a group of nine gibbons from swinging very far. But a conservation team from Hong Kong’s Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden came to the rescue. They set up an 18-metre-long rope bridge connecting the trees!

All but one of the gibbons have mastered the ropes. Some swing across, and some use it as a handrail. Some even bravely walk across the top like it’s a tightrope. Eek – don’t look down, gibbons! That rope may be a lifeline for this amazing species.

I’m the champion of the monkey bars in our school playground. I’d like to challenge one of those gibbons to a swinging race across that bridge! Rusty I’m sure Hainan gibbons have much more important things to do than race you, Rusty. Please don’t interrupt my top-quality reporting again!!! Rhona

NEWSFLASH! A rat that sniffs for landmines in Cambodia has won a gold medal for its life-saving work!

Europe’s largest Marine Protected Area is now in force. And it’s off the west coast of my great country, Scotland! Hey, they should put me in charge of it. Why there? Well, some of the world’s most beautiful and diverse marine ecosystems are Scottish. It’s true! Our deep-sea waters are home to many threatened species and habitats. You’ll find coral A gulper shark swimming near a lost fishing net reefs and deep-sea sharks, Protected Areas around They’re handy for big like rare gulper sharks, the UK. There should be marine mammals to down there. another 41 in English feed and rest on when The MPA will also waters pretty soon. Well, they’re migrating. you can’t have too many, protect the habitats on And what will these areas can you? our seamounts. Those be protected from? Any are extinct volcanoes damaging fishing activity that tower above the and people wanting to muddy seabed but don’t drill for oil and gas there, rise above the water. France is to ban the that’s what! They’d better They’re a solid surface use of wild animals not try. for organisms to cling in circuses and to, providing food for There’s already a network marine parks! of over 300 Marine lots of other creatures.

SAVING SCOTTISH SEA LIFE!

NEWSFLASH!

The military planned a big war exercise around Scotland’s Gare Loch in October, but a pod of at least three bottlenose whales is in there, feeding on the fish. Those whales are hundreds of miles off course. Whales don’t usually swim in coastal waters and it’s certainly not their natural habitat. Well, someone needs to tell the whales that!

They’d been there a long time, and one was looking skinny. If they grow too

weak, they may not be strong enough to swim back out to sea.

WHALE RESCUE OPERATION!

Rescuers tried banging poles to drive the whales south. That didn’t work. They also tried herding the mammals back into the sea using boats in a U-shaped formation. They had no luck with that, either. The sneaky bottlenoses kept swimming under the boats to get back to the loch! They just didn’t want to leave. After three failed attempts, the rescuers gave up. It was getting dark – also, they didn’t want to stress the animals out. So, the whales stuck around for the war exercise. It didn’t seem to affect them. Fortunately,

Also, the military exercise involved lots of warships. They’d be using sonar, an underwater sound that could affect the whales badly.

most of the action was far away from the coast. Now British Divers Marine Life Rescue, a marine charity, will monitor the 12-metrelong animals. They’ll try getting them back in the sea again if they stop looking healthy. Hey, that’s another story set in Scotland. Did I

mention what a great country it is? At least 2,500 times!

NEWSFLASH! Top-rating TV show EastEnders is banning all meat on screen to become more eco-friendly!

CREATURE COUNT CATCH-UP Remember me telling you about Yorkshire’s Great Creature Count in June? The Wildlife Trust asked everyone there to record all the wildlife around their homes over 24 hours. The results revealed how trees, lawns, ponds and flowers are essential lifelines for wildlife. Many species were found in people’s gardens, including 18 different butterfly species. Fifty-seven hedgehogs were recorded, and so were many common frogs. Lots of bumblebees were recorded, but only 23 garden bumblebees. Only 46 swifts were recorded – that’s low for summer – and just 14 pipistrelle bats. We must protect all the wild places our wildlife needs – and create lots of new ones!

They smuggle them from the beaches and sell them to restaurants to serve as food. It’s TOTALLY illegal – those turtles are endangered!

TURTLE-Y TERRIFIC TECH! Hi, Rusty fans! Have you ever seen sea turtles’ eggs? They’re great. They look like pingpong balls, which reminds me of my top sport, table tennis! (You should see me beat Rhona at it.) But the best thing about them is that they have little sea turtles inside! In Central America, poachers target sea turtle nests and steal their eggs.

Now scientists are putting 3D-printed fake eggs into some of those nests. They’re called InvestEGGators. Great pun! They have GPS tracking systems inside. You know, those things that connect to space satellites and tell you exactly where a device is. So, the fake eggs can track the people going from door to door trying to sell them. So far, they’ve found out that most selling goes on near the nesting beaches they pinch the eggs from. I hope they use this great tech to stop people from selling those eggs.

Also, Rhona isn’t the only one who can do updates! Remember last time I told you about a humpback whale that got lost in an Australian river? Imagine it bashing into boats full of people in crocodilefilled waters! So they banned boats along parts of the river to clear a path back to the sea. But the whale could still have got stranded on a sandbank. I bet the crocs would have moved in on it, then. It would have been like a horror movie for whales! Well, fear not – the whale found its way safely back into the sea during high tides. HOORAY! That’s the way to do an update, Rhona.

Rusty I need some chocolate biscuits with GPS systems inside to prove it’s Rusty who pinches my choccie biccies! Rhona

I’M DEFINITELY NOT A FAKE, THEN!

Koala Mother Cuddling her Joey

Â© Suzi Eszterhas/naturepl.com

Queensland, Australia

Â© Minden Pictures/Alamy Stock Photo

Sugar Glider

Papua New Guinea

MARSUPIAL WEIRDNESS! I decided to investigate the world’s strangest, most surprising marsupials!

Tree kangaroos There are 14 different species of tree kangaroo! They’ve adapted well to living in trees, with strong forearms to pull themselves up the trunks. When they’re up there, they can bound as far as nine metres from tree to tree, and leap to the ground from 18 metres high! These high climbers are very close relatives of the kangaroos and wallabies on the ground. They’re all part of the mammal family called macropods. Interestingly, all macropods once lived up trees. Millions of years ago, they came down to live on the ground, but the ancestors of tree kangaroos must have decided to go back up! One species – the Wondiwoi tree kangaroo – is so rare it seemed to vanish for 90 years. We thought this monkey-like ’roo must be extinct. Then, in 2018, one was spotted in a remote New Guinea mountain

Did You Know? The ground isn’t out of bounds to tree kangaroos, but they’re a little slow and clumsy down there! range – and photographed for the first time ever! Sadly, most tree kangaroo species are at risk because of hunting and habitat loss.

WOMBAT WEIRDNESS! Wombats have super-tough bums, and for a good reason. If a predator attacks, the wombat ducks into its burrow and uses its bum to block the entrance! That bum can even stand a dingo clawing and biting at it. It may even be a deadly weapon that can crush an attacker’s skull with a big slam. Even weirder, wombat bums poo in cubes! Wombats stack their poo cubes as high as possible to mark their territory and attract other wombats. (The cube shape stops them rolling away!)

JOEY WEIRDNESS! We’ve all seen kangaroo joeys poking their heads out of their mothers’ pouches, but did you know they often hang upside down in them, too? They also leap head first into those pouches and it takes lots of squirming to get the right way up! In the wild, mothers sometimes swap their babies! Often, a joey will jump into the wrong pouch by mistake. It may happen when it gets startled by a predator. The mother then keeps it as her own. Some may even adopt orphaned joeys. It's a mystery why many joeys grow up in the 'wrong' mother's pouch!

muscles and may relax them, so the joey drops out. The fallen joey attracts the predator’s attention while the mother gets to escape!

Fuzzy quokkas look cute and sweet, but they may not be the best mothers. When they flee from predators, their joeys sometimes fall from their pouches. The poor joey gets left behind for the predator to eat. But here’s what’s surprising: the mothers might do it on purpose! They have strong control over their pouch

Marsupial moles swim rapidly through Australia’s desert sands. They spend most of their lives underground, but you won’t find any tunnel networks down

Blind but quick enough to catch a gecko!

there. They dig a tunnel ahead with sharp claws on their front feet. Their back feet push the sand behind to close the hole. These moles have no visible eyes or ears, and can close their tiny nostrils to stop the sand getting in. But how do they stop it from getting in their pouch and suffocating their joey? Guess, then check the answer below.

Fun Fact Even male marsupial moles have pouches!

MARSUPIAL MOLES ANSWER

Like many burrowing marsupials, their pouches face backwards!

Marsupial moles

MYTHICAL MARSUPIALS! Some very weird marsupials appear in folk tales, but are any of them real? I had to investigate!

The drop bear Deadly drop bears are said to drop from the treetops on to people walking in the Australian bush. Some say they’re a carnivorous koala! Australians sometimes warn tourists to watch out for them. They recommended wearing forks in your hair for protection.

You guessed – it’s a hoax to wind people up! But a similar species really did prowl the Australian wilderness in the last Ice Age. It’s that fearsome predator you met in our first feature: the marsupial lion. Were they the real-life drop bears?

Beastly bunyips Australia has another menacing mythical marsupial: the bunyip. It’s said to lurk in swamps, creeks and lagoons, and make a booming or roaring noise. Some say it’s part crocodile and part bird. Others say it’s more like an ox or hippo. Some even say it’s human shaped! Although some believe it’s a gentle plant-eater, it’s often described as a human-eater. It seems like the bunyip is whatever people want it to be! It has its beginnings in the beliefs of Australia’s native Aboriginal people. Explorers started finding sets of huge, mysterious bones in Australia in the first half of the 19th century. Did they belong to the water monsters described by the local tribes? There were many bunyip sightings across Australia after some of these discoveries. But sightings of large seals, which give loud barks, may have created the bunyip legend.

Tasmanian tiger Now, this creature definitely did exist. Unfortunately, people got sick of them attacking livestock and hunted them to extinction. The last known Tasmanian tiger died in a Tasmanian zoo in 1936. So, if they’ve been extinct for over 80 years, why do people keep seeing them?

and taken photos, yet there’s no reliable evidence that they exist! Are these pouched predators still on the prowl?

The Tasmanian tiger wasn’t really a tiger, but a marsupial. It got its name from the light stripes on its back. It looked like a cross between a big cat, a fox and a wolf – and, despite having four legs, could hop like a kangaroo! Now it has become a mystery marsupial. There have been at least 7,000 reported sightings of them in the wild, mostly in mainland Australia. People have made videos

Phantom Kangaroos Phantom kangaroos are kangaroo-like animals spotted living wild in places they shouldn’t be. They’re seen all around the world, including Japan and Europe. So many have been spotted in the USA that some people think America may have a secret kangaroo population! Yet they’re usually seen just once and never again. Kangaroos are the world’s largest marsupials, so it’s hard for them to stay hidden. Are people really seeing deer?

Vocabulary Phantom: A ghost or imaginary thing.

I love these marsupial mysteries!

Is it a squirrel? Is it a meerkat? No, it’s a…

NUMBAT! This adorable Australian animal really is one of a kind. It isn’t closely related to any other marsupials. In fact, it’s the only member of its scientific family. Numbats are unique!

Animal mash-up It may be unlike anything else, but the numbat looks like a curious combination of creatures. It has… · Pointy ears and a bushy tail, like a squirrel. · A stripy body, like a chipmunk (although a chipmunk’s stripes go along its back, not across). · A pointed snout and a long, sticky tongue, like an anteater. · And it sits up to look around, just like a meerkat!

Termites for tea

(and breakfast and lunch…) The numbat is also known as the banded anteater. But it doesn’t actually eat ants! Instead, it feeds on another tiny insect –

Did You Know? Numbats don’t drink water. They get all the liquid they need from the juicy termites they eat!

the termite. Numbats hunt for termites during the day, when they’re more active. They poke their long, thin tongues into rotten logs, underneath leaves and into the termites’ underground passageways, and dab them up on the sticky end! An adult numbat can slurp up 20,000 termites every day!

Smelly Males During the breeding season, male numbats produce a smelly oil from a gland on their chests, which turns their fur red. They rub this oil on to rocks and logs to tell females they’re looking for a mate. How attractive!

Disappearing species Numbats were once widespread across the south of Australia. Now, they are only found in a few small areas of woodland in just one state (Western Australia). There are probably fewer than 1,000 of these animals alive in the wild.

Three threats Numbats are threatened by three main things:

1. Introduced predators Numbats have evolved to escape from native predators, such as eagles, snakes and lizards, but they are easily preyed upon by foxes and feral cats, which humans brought to Australia.

2. Habitat loss Numbats shelter, sleep and forage for food in hollow trees and logs. When these are cleared to make land for farming or to build on, there are no places for the numbats to rest or nest – and no termites for them to eat!

3. Bushfires Wild fires in Australia also destroy numbat habitat.

Baby ’Bats!

After a pregnancy of just 14 days, female numbats give birth to four miniature babies (they’re only 2cm long!). Numbats don’t have pouches, so the newborn numbats are kept warm and safe beneath a fold of skin instead. They stay there for six to seven months, feeding on their mother’s milk. During this time, they grow so much that the female numbat can no longer walk properly! She then puts them in a nest within a hollow log, tree hole or underground burrow. A couple of months later, the young numbats are ready to venture out into the big, wild world!

New numbats Without help, the humble numbat is heading for extinction. Luckily, conservation projects are protecting them in the © areas where they still live. NH PA /Su Numbats are also being perst ock.com bred in zoos and released into the wild. Six new populations have already been established! Hopefully, there’s a brighter future for this magical, mixed-up marsupial.

Vocabulary Feral: Wild, after being a pet or farm animal. Forage: To look for food. Native: Naturally from a place (not introduced to it).

Quiz Planet

Marsupial Crossword Across 3. A termite-eating, stripy marsupial 8. To look for food 10. The flying mouse 12. Koalas’ favourite tree

Down 1. Active at night 2. ‘The happiest animal on Earth’ 4. One of the main threats to Australian marsupials 5. The biggest known marsupial ever 6. Preferring to live alone 7. A marsupial with a super-tough bum 9. A baby kangaroo 11. Which country is home to the Tasmanian devil?

True or False?

All marsupials have a pouch, even the marsupial mole.

T F

Koalas need a lot of space – about 100 trees per animal.

T F

Joeys poo and wee in their mums’ pouches.

T F

Today, marsupials are only found in Australia.

T F

Find the right set of shapes

Spot 12 Differences

Joke Corner Q: W hat do you get whe n you cross an elephant with a ka ngaroo? A: Big holes all over Australia.

Q: W hat is a marsupial â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s favourite drink? A: Quokka-Koala

ÂŠ Cartoonstock.com

Q: What do you call a lazy baby kangaroo? A: A pouch potato!

Q: What is out of bounds? A: A tired kangaroo!

See answers on ecokidsplanet.co.uk/free-resources

Over to You In our ‘Outer Space’ issue, we asked you to design some alien life. Your entries were out of this world! It’s delightful to know that our readers are such a creative bunch of Eco Kids!

Congratulations to our four winners!

Thomas, age 8, Sidmouth

Alice, age 6 London

Pluto Parrot This is my Pluto Parrot. It sleeps whilst it flies. And it eat s other birds and Pluto pears.

Gabeeaddeeaydoe My alien is called Gabeeaddeeaydoe. He has four arms and hands with lots of fingers, so that he can do lots of things at once and grip really well. On his hands he has suckers that help him to climb brilliantly. Gabeeaddeeaydoe has large ears that can swivel like a cat’s to help him hear well and he has large eyes and a big nose to help him to see and smell well and lots of sharp little teeth. Gabeeaddeeaydoe has wings so that he can fly. I hope you like him; he is very friendly!

George, age7, Henry, ag e 9, Charlie, age 5, and Beatrice, age 3.

8, Evelyn, age Cholsey ld r Alien Wor Underwate The Planet Conquer We have named the planet Conquer and made the aliens out of conkers and left-over metal bits and bobs.

Runner-ups , Benji, age 6 Nor folk tÂ Crazy Plane

Amelia, a ge 9, Rugby Planet Oo bnog Ted, age 7, Ashtead An alien in his spaceship

To see more amazing alien creations from our readers, go to: https://www.ecokidsplanet.co.uk/alien-world

Bonfire Collage

Awesome Autumn Art

Gather some leaves and twigs from the garden or a local park, and celebrate Bonfire Night by making this colourful bonfire collage.

You will need: • Colourful leaves – red, orange and yellow • Twigs • An empty cereal box • An A4 piece of card (optional) • Scissors • Paintbrush • PVA glue

Instructions:

4. Now, do exactly

the same for the next two sections of the fire. Use orange leaves for the middle section and red leaves for the top. 5. W ait one

hour for the glue to dry and then marvel at your bonfire collage. That’s what we call awesome autumn art!

1. Cut out the front of a cereal box

and stick a piece of card on to it with PVA glue. 2. Arrange two sticks in the shape of a

cross on the card and glue them down. Repeat this process several times until you have a small pile of twigs.

3. Place the yellow leaves on to your piece

of card just above the twigs – to form the bottom section of the fire. When you are happy with the shape, stick the leaves down with glue.* *TOP TIP: Cover the front of the leaves in glue, too; this preserves the leaves’ colour and gives them a nice sheen! (Don’t worry that the glue is white – you can’t see it once it has dried!)

We would love to see your bonfire collage, so send us a snap at hello@ecokidsplanet.co.uk.

Monthly Competition

Marsupial Poems For this month’s competition, we invite you to write a poem about either your favourite marsupial or marsupials in general. We hope this issue has inspired you to celebrate these marvellous species. Let’s get writing!

FIVE aspiring poets will receive a copy of a wonderful poetry collection for children, The Book of Not Entirely Useful Advice.

5 TO! WIN

The Book of Not Entirely Useful Advice A poetry collection fizzing with fun from A.F. Harrold, and packed with quirky colour illustrations from award-winning illustrator Mini Grey. This glorious and entirely essential collection of poems features advice from A.F. Harrold on parrots, gravy, mathematics, castles (bouncy), spiders, vegetables (various), breakfast, cakes and removing ducks from soup. Most of the poems are wonderfully comic, but there’s space for quiet, thoughtful verse, too. It’s a book to fire the imagination and to make you see things in a whole new way – like a poet, in fact. RRP: £9.99 How to submit your entries: Email your poem to win@ecokidsplanet.co.uk before 10th December 2020. Please make sure you include your full name, age and address, so we know how to reach you.

IN THE NEXT ISSUE OF ECO KIDS PLANET Issue 74

ALASKA'S NATURAL WONDERS!

Wild Alaska

There’s no place on Earth like Alaska

WEIRD ALASKA Simon explores some of Alaska’s strangest sights

A Bounty of Bears

Freaky Folklore

Amy goes bear-watching

Does a monster really lurk in Alaska’s largest lake?

Alaska’s porcupine Charlie meets the prickly charmer

Sea Otter Endangered Creature Feature

ecokidsplanet.co.uk