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Animal Facts from The Tiger and the Wind

• • Ben is a Bengal tiger. Tigers live in the forests of India, Nepal and Bangladesh, and in the foothills of the Himalayas.
  • The Himalayan mountain range stretches along the border of at least six countries, including India and China. It has nine out of the ten highest mountains in the world. That’s why when Ben goes searching for the wind, he can climb to the top of the world.
  • On his journey, Ben’s fur keeps him warm. Ben’s fur is one of the things that makes him a mammal. Another thing that makes him a mammal is that when he was a baby, his mother nursed him with milk.
  • Scientists put animals like Ben and his friends into groups based on how alike they are. They give names to each group (usually Latin names) to help keep them organized.
  • Tigers are in the genus panthera. If you have a house cat in your family, it belongs to the genus felis.
  • Other cats that share a group with the tiger are the lion, leopard, and jaguar. They are sometimes called Great Cats. They are the only cats that can roar.
  • Ben’s great cousin is a Siberian tiger. Bengal and Siberian tigers belong to the same species, but they have some important differences in their appearance.
  • Tigers like Ben have fur that ranges in color from light yellow or light orange to reddish yellow with dark brown or black stripes. The Bengal tiger is called Panthera tigris tigris.
  • The Siberian tiger has a coat that blends with the snowy landscape. Siberian tigers are pale orange, and the stripes are brown, and spaced farther apart. To help this tiger stay warm in the mountains, he has a ruff of white fur around his neck, like the collar of a warm coat. Siberian tigers are called Panthera tigris altaica, and they live in the woodlands of eastern Russia and northeastern China.
  • Here is Ben’s scientific classification:

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Felidae
Subfamily: Pantherinae
Genus: Panthera
Species: Panthera tigris

• On his journey, Ben meets a serpent. Serpents (or snakes) are animals, but they are in a class known as Reptiles.
• Mammals, like Ben, are warm-blooded, but Reptiles, like the serpent, are cold-blooded.
• Ben can stay warm even when it’s cold outside, and his fur is a big help. Warm-blooded mammals try to keep their body at the same temperature on the inside, whether it’s hot or cold outside.
• Cold-blooded animals can’t do that. When it’s cold outside, their bodies get very cold. That’s why they like to curl up in the sun to stay warm.
• Ben also meets a Bearded Vulture, which belongs to a class called Aves. From wingtip to wingtip, these big birds can span more than seven feet across. They have bristles, like sharp whiskers, under the chin. Some Bearded Vultures live in the Himalayas.
• Tigers and Bearded Vultures are both endangered species. That means they are in danger of becoming extinct. When an animal goes extinct, there are no more left, and the species disappears.
• It’s important to help endangered species by protecting their habitat – making sure they have a place to live – and by keeping them safe. Some scientists are trained to help animals breed and have babies, to save them from becoming extinct.
• Lots of people and organizations help animals in different ways. The World Wildlife Fund is working to protect the diversity of plants and animals, and their habitats, all over the world.

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Poetry Connection

River Lullaby

Flowing through the forest
Gurgling on the ground
Falling from the rock face
With a happy sound
Rushing in the streambed
Splashing on the rocks
I wish I knew its language
When the river talks
 
Frozen in the winter
When it builds a bridge
Melting for the flowers
That grow along the ridge
I wish I knew the song
That the waters sing
I wish I understood
Its secret whispering
 
Some day when I’m older
Some day when I’m wise
I’ll go and find the spring
Where the waters rise
I’ll go down to the shore
Where the river meets the sea
And I’ll ask the mighty water
If it will talk to me
 
Flowing through the forest
Gurgling on the ground
Falling from the rock face
With a happy sound
Rushing in the streambed
Splashing on the rocks
I wish I knew its language
When the river talks
 
And someday I will sit
Beside it on a rock
And water will surround me
With its bright, wet talk
And it will be a story
Spoken just for me
I’ll lie down by the river
When the water sings to me.

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