47Mammals: endangered species

Name Date

Spotlight on Endangered Animals

©The Education Center, Inc. • Teacher’s Helper® • TEC8476 • Feb/Mar 2000

Pam L. Camel is producing a special episode about endangered mammals. Read the clues be-low. Match each clue with a mammal shown. Write the mammal’s name on the blank. Then color and cut out each mammal’s picture and glue it to the correct spotlight.

black rhinoceros African elephant Mediterranean monk seal

black-footed ferret

Asiatic lion polar bear

mountain gorilla giant panda brown hyena gray wolf cheetah blue whale

1. When people began destroying bamboo forests for farmland, many of my species starved to death.

_________________________

2. Poachers still hunt me just for my horn.

_________________________

3. Although I’m the fastest land mammal, hunters catch and kill me for my beautiful fur coat.

________________________

4. I am the largest living land mammal, hunted and killed for my tusks.

_________________________

5. Hunting from aircraft and motorboats is now banned in the Arctic Circle, where I am found.

_________________________

6. I am almost extinct, hunted mainly because people are afraid of my bark and my bite.

_________________________

7. Because the beaches I breed on are being developed for tourism, I am under great threat.

_______________________

8. Poachers often hunt me to sell my head, hands, and feet as souvenirs.

_______________________

9. I am overhunted for blubber, food, and oil.

_______________________

10. When prairie dogs were poisoned and their homes were plowed up, I became an endangered species.

_______________________

11. I have to compete for food with my cousin, the spotted hyena. _______________________

12. A “mane” reason I am endangered is that I am hunted for sport.

_______________________

How To Use Page 47“Spotlight on Endangered Animals” 1. Giveeachstudentacopyofpage47,crayons,

scissors,andglue. 2. Sharethebackgroundinformationonthispagewith

students. 3. Havestudentscompletethepageasdirected.

Background For The Teacher Endangered speciesarelivingthingsthreatenedwithextinction—thedyingoffofallorganismsoftheirkind.Today,humansarethebiggestthreattoothermammals.Humanshavecausedarapiddeclineinthenumberofmammalsinthewildforvariousreasons,includinghunting,trading,anddestructionofhabitats. Wildlifebiologistsusethreemainclassificationsforaspeciesthatfacespossibleextinction:(1)endangered,(2)threatened,and(3)rare.Endangeredspeciesfacethemostseriousthreatofextinction.Theirsurvivalisdepen-dentupondirecthumanprotection.Threatenedspeciesarestillnumerousinsomeareas,butstillfaceseriousdangersandareundergreatthreat.Rarespeciesarenotdeclining,buthavesmallpopulationsinafewprotectedenvironments. Eachspeciesofplantandanimalplaysanimportantpartinthebalanceofnature.Therefore,theextinctionofanyspeciesthreatensthesurvivalofotherlivingthings,includinghumans.Survivaloftheseanimalsisdependentupontheestablishmentandcarefulmanagementoflargenaturepreservesandparks.

48 Mammals: endangered species

1. giant panda 2. black rhinoceros 3. cheetah 4. African elephant 5. polar bear 6. gray wolf

7. Mediterranean monk seal 8. mountain gorilla 9. blue whale 10. black-footed ferret 11. brown hyena 12. Asiatic lion

Answer Key

How To Use Page 47

Background For The Teacher