Have you heard the news about the baby giraffe born at the Toronto Zoo? Cuteness overload! Her nickname is Baby Long Legs. After the public got to vote on her name, the zoo announced on World Giraffe Day (June 21) that she is called Amani, which means "peace" in Swahili. In the meantime, have you ever wondered why giraffes have purple tongues? Find out on the Wonder Wall!
May 15 is Endangered Species Day. Amani is a Masai giraffe, and they face a lot of dangers in the wild, such as habitat loss and poaching. And not just giraffes need our help. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, more than 32,000 species are threatened with extinction! That is a scary number. But researchers and scientists around the world are taking action to protect biodiversity. We share our planet with so many beautiful animals. You can learn more about them through books and videos:
Gone is Gone: Wildlife Under Threat by Isabelle Groc
Hope for the Elephants by Patricia J. Murphy
Magic Tree House Fact Tracker: Pandas and Other Endangered Species by Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie Pope Boyce
Rhino in the House: The Story of Saving Samia by Daniel Kirk
What If There Were No Gray Wolves? by Suzanne Slade and Carol Schwartz