Perfect for nature-loving 7-12 year olds, each issue of Nat Geo Kids is carefully curated to ignite curiosity and spark conversations about science and nature, empowering children to love and care for our beautiful planet.
Happy New Year! I hope you had a fab festive break and are excited about 2024. To celebrate Chinese New Year on 10 February – the Year of the Dragon – we've scoured the planet in search of some real-life ‘dragons’. Turn to page 18 to meet them! This month's cute cover star is a harp seal pup – on page 8, Nat Geo Explorer Bertie Gregory watches one take its first swim in the icy ocean! Also this issue, we learn all about AI, discover the geology behind birthstones, and check out some award-winning wildlife photos. Enjoy the puzzles and posters, too. See you next month! Editor Tim and the Nat Geo Kids team…
Return of the golden mole! How cute is this De Winton's golden mole?! The sweet species was recently rediscovered in Port Nolloth, South Africa, after being lost to science for 87 years! Totally blind and relying on their sensitive hearing to navigate,the moles ‘swim’ through sand dunes,leaving faint tracks behind. The shy, speedy creatures are almost never seen- which is why conservations throught they'd gone extinct. In 2021, researchers from the Endangered Wildlife Trust spotted moles they suspected were De Winton's – but they needed DNA evidence to be sure. Two long years later, they finally found it in fresh mole trails on the sand. Brilliant! The scientists now plan to trian a scent detection dog to find more of the critically endangered moles, so they can be documented and their…
A dog's life Meet Toco, the collie. Or rather, ‘Toco’. the human who spends his days dressed as a collie! The anonymous man, from Tokyo in Japan, splashed £10,250 on his fetch-ing canine costume, realising his childhood dream of becoming a ‘dog‘. People stop him when he's out and about to take photos or stroke him – and he's even been interviewed in, er, pawson on TV. Howl strange! Jungle giants Until 21 January, visitors to the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, France, can head o? on a magical nighttime walk around the 17th-century botanical garden, getting up close to gigantic lanterns shaped like rainforest plants and animals from around the world. Very cool! Pebble Picasso Justin Bateman makes portraits of people and animals out of a very unusual material…
“I'm watching a ten-day-old harp seal pup peer off the edge of a piece of sea ice in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, off the coast of Canada. Its mum yelps at it from the water, encouraging the pup to join her. The pup looks at me with its big, black eyes as if to ask, ‘Should I do it?’ “I've been in Canada for ten days filming these newborns during their first days of life. These pups are born into an icy world where they must quickly learn how to survive – and I want to show how tough these cute creatures are. I also really want to film a pup diving into the ocean for its first-ever swim. “I'm shivering. I've been in the minus 1°C water for…
1 day old Yellowcoat A newborn harp seal is pale yellow because its fur has been stained by the fluids in its mother's womb. 3 days old Whitecoat Bleached by the sun, the seal's soft fur turns pure white and stays that way for nearly two weeks. 12 days old Greycoat Spots and darker fur start to show through the pup's white fur, giving it a greyish look. 21 days old Ragged jacket As the pup sheds its white coat, it takes on a tattered appearance. Some pups swim and dive on their own at this stage. Filming © Spencer Millsap; Seals in ice, mum and baby © Bertie Gregory; Yellowcoat © Jeff Foott / Getty Images; Whitecoat © Werner Bollmann / Getty Images; Greycoat © Gary Cralle / Getty…
1 “I'M NOT SUre ABOUT THIS, MUM…” 2 “GO FOR IT, KID!” Harp seals have a see-through eyelid that protects their eyes underwater. 3 “I DID IT! I'M SWIMMING!” 4 “SO… WHAT ARE YOU?” 5 “CAN I GO AGAIN?” Shrinking sea ice In March 2021, harp seal pups were photographed on a snow-covered beach in Canada (below). The problem? Well, adult harp seals usually give birth on the ice in the middle of the Gulf of St. Lawrence - not on land. As the Earth's temperature rises, so does the temperature of the ocean. And that means there's less pack ice for harp seals to give birth on. Helpless newborn pups need stable sea ice to rest on – if they're born on the shore, they risk being eaten by…
