Index

1 - The Leopard, Done by Brendon , grade 3V
2 - The African Cheetah, Done by Shaun, grade 3V
3 - The Rhinoceros, By Justin, grade 3L 
4 - The cheetah, By Mihi, grade 3L
5 - The leopard, by Sarah-Lee, grade 3W
6 - Cheetahs – In a race for Survival, by Darren, grade 3W
7 - Mission Rhino by Bronwyn, grade 3H
8 - Whales by Matthew, grade 3H
9 - Bald Ibis by Sean

1 - The Leopard, 
Done by Brendon , grade 3V

Leopards are found in Africa and Asia. The body of an adult leopard is about 1m long without the tail. The coat is pale tan, and is marked with broken circles of black spots. The female has one to six in a litter. The black panther is realy a kind of leopard, because you can see its spots if you look closely. Leopards use trees for observation posts, for sleeping and to keep their food in. Leopards hunt alone at night. They kill small animals like hares, warthogs, ground birds, small antelope and monkeys. Big prey animals are brought down by pack hunters.

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The African Cheetah is an endangered species and very threatened.
Cheetahs are built for speed and prey on small game. Cheetahs hunt in the early morning and late afternoon. A cheetah can run at 120 kilometres per hour for short distances.
Cheetahs live in two groups – males and females. Males live in groups of two to three and hunt together. Females live alone, except when they have cubs.
Cheetahs’ coats are covered with simple black spots and they have tear marks at the eyes.
Once there were hundreds of thousands of cheetahs in Africa, but today there are just a few thousand of each left.

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3 - The Rhinoceros, 
By Justin, grade 3L 

In South Africa there are the Black and White Rhino. They are both endangered animals, their main enemy is man. The reason ,am hunted them was to get their horns which are sold for a lot of money as they are made into powder and sold as medicine.
Both the Black and White Rhino are protected in game parks and their numbers are growing.

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4 - The cheetah, 
By Mihi, grade 3L

The cheetah is a very fast runner and is also very similar to the leopard.
The cheetah is less stronger than other wild animals. The cheetah has been killed for their skin and some other hunters just kill them for fun and other hunters find the cheetah for its meat. To tell the difference between a cheetah and a leopard is that the cheetah has black lines that are like tears and the leopard doesn’t. Would you like to tell your grand children that there were once really cheetahs in the world? I don’t think so.

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5 - The leopard, 
by Sarah-Lee, grade 3W

The leopard is a member of the cat family. It has a yellowish coat and is marked with broken circles of black spots. Leopards spend much of their time in trees. From the branches on which they lie hidden, leopards leap on the animals that pass underneath. They eat the animal or store parts of the meat in a tree and eats it later. Leopards eat cattle, sheep, monkeys, dogs and birds. Leopards live to be some twenty years old.

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6 - Cheetahs – In a race for Survival, 
by Darren, grade 3W

The cheetah is a common name for a large cat found in Africa. It has a long body and legs as well as a small head. Its body is marked by small oval or round spots. They are largely defenseless, and where unprotected, they are heading for extinction.

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7 - Mission Rhino 
by Bronwyn, grade 3H

The population of black rhinos has fallen from 15 000 in 1980 to less than 4 000 today. This is almost entirely due to hunting by poachers. Rhinos usually follow the same route to and from water. Black rhinos are browsers. They feed on the thorn bush and help to prevent it spreading across the Savannah. In North Yemen, every Muslim man wears a dagger in his belt. The dealers bought the horns from poachers. They would then be sold to other people for even larger sums of money. Tourists pay a lot of money to see the rhinos. Many of the local people can share the benefits of this money. A rhino calf can weigh up to 40 kilograms at birth. It will stay with its mother for two to three years, but she will drive it away when she produces her next calf. Rhinos visit water to drink in the early morning and in the evening. In dry areas, they travel up to 15 kilos to find water. The southern race of the white rhinoceros was once almost extinct. There is now a thriving population of over 3 000 animals. Rhinos wallow in mud almost every day. The mud helps them to keep cool and protects their skin against bites by insects. 
The black rhino has a long upper lip which it uses to grasp twigs and leaves. This feature is typical of browsing animals. It is difficult to protect such a shy animal as the black rhino. The struggle to save it needs the support of ordinary people, not only in Africa, but all over the world.

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8 - Whales 
by Matthew, grade 3H

Whales have been around for millions of years. There are 78 types of whales. Long ago men used to hunt whales for food and oil. They also used bone for arrow heads, sinews for rope. The stomach was dried and used to store oil. Nothing was wasted.
The whale is very clever and has a brain bigger than a human. The largest whale is the blue whale. It is 30 meters long. Whales eat plankton and small fish. Some whales can stay under water for nearly an hour before it has to come to the surface to breathe. Whales are now endangered because of man.
Humpback whales are friendly and come to the fishing boats. Many years ago the fishermen used to harpoon a calf, then the mother would come in and was also killed. A humpback whale loves to play, jumping and twisting onto his back before he hits the water. They grow to 16 meters long and live for 95 years.

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9 - Bald Ibis
By Sean

The bald ibis used to be present over most of the rugged open country and grassland of the Cape Province in South Africa. However over the last fifty years it has declined in numbers and has become extinct in large areas. All breading colonies in the Cape Province have now disappeared. Today the bird must be regarded as an endangered species. The bald ibis is endemic to South Africa which means it only occurs here. If we do not look after it here in SA it will be lost forever. 
The bald ibis breed in colonies, usually in mountainous areas. The nests are on rocky ledges and in crevices, holes and caves on cliff faces.

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