Right, let’s go and have alook around the Wild Space Gallery now. Now, extinction isn’t just something that happened millions of years ago, it could still happen today. We’re going to head into Wild Space and have a look at some weird and wonderful creatures that we can’t see anymore, but also have a look at some fantastic creatures that we still have a chance to see today. Now, there are lots of different things that can make animals extinct.
Causes of animal extinction
Things like people cutting down the rainforest so there’s nowhere for creatures to live, or the pollution from our cars, or maybe it’s the plastics that we use that can get inside animals’ tummies. Now, there are lots of different things that we can do at home to help. Really simple things, like maybe instead of using the car, we go for a walk or use our bike, or the recycling that we do at home, or perhaps putting up bird boxes so there’s abarn, or feeding tables so there’s something to eat. I’m going to have a look at one of the creatures though that didn’t make it. This big bird behind me here is a dodo. Dodos used to live on the island of Mauritius, but within a hundred years of their discovery they were completely extinct. Now, let’s go and have alook around the rest of the gallery and see what creatures we can still see today. Are you ready?
North and South Pole
The first place we’re going to go though is very, very cold. It’s the North and South Pole.
The biggest thing in this case is a polar bear. Polar bears live in the Arctic, the North Pole. Did you know that a polar bear’s skin is actually black? It’s only its fur that’s white. Polar bears are amazing swimmers and really, really good jumpers. Sometimes they have to jump between blocks of ice at the sear edge. Occasionally, they jump high into the air and try and pound down onto the ice to try to makea hole to encourage creatures from underneath to come to the surface so we could eat them. Because a polar bear is a carnivore.
It only eats meat. Let’s have alook at some of the other animals in this display case. We’re going to go and have a look at the penguins. Penguins are fantastic creatures and great fun to watch. They may not be so brilliant on land, but as soon as they get in the water, they’re so fast moving through it, it’s like they’re flying almost. Penguins, like the emperor penguin behind me, whales and seals, are the only creatures that live in Antarctica. That’s the South Pole, by the way, all year round. You get occasional visitors, birds and things like that, but it’s only those three.
Africa
Now I’m getting a bit cold here now, all of this snow and ice. I think perhaps we should go somewhere warmer. Let’s head through the oceans and try and get to Africa. As we’re going through the ocean, youmight be able to see a dolphin. Dolphins are really good fun to watch in the oceans. They’re some of the cleverest creatures on earth and live in groups called pods.
I’m glad we’ve reached and we’re a bit warmer. We’re now in Africa. Africa’s got some of the biggest creatures on the planet, from giraffes to cheetahs, from elephants to zebras. Can you spot the lion in the back? Lions live in groups called prides and they’re carnivores. That means they only eat meat. Can you make a noise like a lion? Go on, roar. Try and scare the person next to you. In fact, better still, try and scarethe person in the next room. Can you spot the giraffe as well? Giraffes stretch up really, really tall so they can reach leaves high on trees.
Australia
I think we should head to another warm place now. Go on, let’s head across to Australia. Australia is home to some weird and wonderful creatures, like the kangaroo behind me. Kangaroos have pouches on their tummies to carry their young. Their young are called joeys. Sometimes the adults have a fight and what they do is they jump up and they hit each other with their big powerful legs.
This can really, really hurt. This is known as boxing. Those legs though are not just for that. They’re so that the kangaroo can jump along really, really fast and really, really far. Why don’t you have a go? Go on, see how far you can jump, just like a kangaroo. Although, Australia. They have a lot of big spiders in Australia. I think I’m going to head to Europe pretty quickly.
Cool and cute wildlife of Europe
Europe has some really cool and cute wildlife. Perhaps you can see in here the otter and also the wildcat. But the thing that you can probably see is Britain’s largest native creature and that’s the red deer. Red deer live up to about their 18 years old. They’re also herbivores. That means that they only eat plants. There’s loads of different wildlife on display here, but which have you seen? Let’s take a look and for everyone that you’ve spotted, give yourself 10 points. And finally, ah, stoat or weasel. Well, it’s really easy to tell. You see, a weasel is weaselly recognisable, whereas a stoat is stoatily different. Yeah. Now we’re going to head over the Atlantic Ocean to North America. Can you spot the wolf? Wolves used to live in Britain. Can you howl like a wolf
Asia
We’ve headed over to Asia now. You can probably see a great big tiger behind me. Tigers are the largest big cats on earth, but they’re in real danger of becoming extinct. Can you spot the orangutan? Orangutans live in Malaysia and Indonesia and are some of the cleverest creatures on earth. Some have developed the tools to help them with foraging. Some of these are things that can get inside trees to help pull out insects. Others have managed to develop a tool that will break open the hard shells of fruit to get at the seeds on the inside.
Well, maybe you can spot the snake then instead. Now this is a python. Some snakes kill their prey by biting it and poisoning it. Others, like the python, are constrictors. They wrap themselves around it and squeeze very very tight and then you can’t breathe. We think of snakes maybe as quite slow because they’re abit slithery and slippery. But actually, when they’re on the ground and they’re wriggling along, they can go really really quickly.
That brings us to the end of our wildlife safari here at Leicester Museum. Have you enjoyed it? I do hope so. There is so much more to see here though in the Wild Space Gallery at Leicester Museum. So why not come down and take a look? I hope it’s inspired you as well to have alook at some of the wildlife in your area. Why not take just half an hour and have a look at the wildlife in your garden or your nearest open space and see what you can see. Like we’ve said, if you make some small changes, theycan make a real difference in your area. And then, who knows what you might see coming into your garden or your nearest open space.
We’re going to head into Wild Space and have a look at some weird and wonderful creatures that we can’t see anymore, but also have a look at some fantastic creatures that we still have a chance to see today. Now, there are lots of different things that can make animals extinct.
Causes of animal extinction
Things like people cutting down the rainforest so there’s nowhere for creatures to live, or the pollution from our cars, or maybe it’s the plastics that we use that can get inside animals’ tummies. Now, there are lots of different things that we can do at home to help. Really simple things, like maybe instead of using the car, we go for a walk or use our bike, or the recycling that we do at home, or perhaps putting up bird boxes so there’s abarn, or feeding tables so there’s something to eat. I’m going to have a look at one of the creatures though that didn’t make it. This big bird behind me here is a dodo. Dodos used to live on the island of Mauritius, but within a hundred years of their discovery they were completely extinct. Now, let’s go and have alook around the rest of the gallery and see what creatures we can still see today. Are you ready?
North and South Pole
The first place we’re going to go though is very, very cold. It’s the North and South Pole.
The biggest thing in this case is a polar bear. Polar bears live in the Arctic, the North Pole. Did you know that a polar bear’s skin is actually black? It’s only its fur that’s white. Polar bears are amazing swimmers and really, really good jumpers. Sometimes they have to jump between blocks of ice at the sear edge. Occasionally, they jump high into the air and try and pound down onto the ice to try to makea hole to encourage creatures from underneath to come to the surface so we could eat them. Because a polar bear is a carnivore.
It only eats meat. Let’s have alook at some of the other animals in this display case. We’re going to go and have a look at the penguins. Penguins are fantastic creatures and great fun to watch. They may not be so brilliant on land, but as soon as they get in the water, they’re so fast moving through it, it’s like they’re flying almost. Penguins, like the emperor penguin behind me, whales and seals, are the only creatures that live in Antarctica. That’s the South Pole, by the way, all year round. You get occasional visitors, birds and things like that, but it’s only those three.
Africa
Now I’m getting a bit cold here now, all of this snow and ice. I think perhaps we should go somewhere warmer. Let’s head through the oceans and try and get to Africa. As we’re going through the ocean, youmight be able to see a dolphin. Dolphins are really good fun to watch in the oceans. They’re some of the cleverest creatures on earth and live in groups called pods.
I’m glad we’ve reached and we’re a bit warmer. We’re now in Africa. Africa’s got some of the biggest creatures on the planet, from giraffes to cheetahs, from elephants to zebras. Can you spot the lion in the back? Lions live in groups called prides and they’re carnivores. That means they only eat meat. Can you make a noise like a lion? Go on, roar. Try and scare the person next to you. In fact, better still, try and scarethe person in the next room. Can you spot the giraffe as well? Giraffes stretch up really, really tall so they can reach leaves high on trees.
Australia
I think we should head to another warm place now. Go on, let’s head across to Australia. Australia is home to some weird and wonderful creatures, like the kangaroo behind me. Kangaroos have pouches on their tummies to carry their young. Their young are called joeys. Sometimes the adults have a fight and what they do is they jump up and they hit each other with their big powerful legs.
This can really, really hurt. This is known as boxing. Those legs though are not just for that. They’re so that the kangaroo can jump along really, really fast and really, really far. Why don’t you have a go? Go on, see how far you can jump, just like a kangaroo. Although, Australia. They have a lot of big spiders in Australia. I think I’m going to head to Europe pretty quickly.
Cool and cute wildlife of Europe
Europe has some really cool and cute wildlife. Perhaps you can see in here the otter and also the wildcat. But the thing that you can probably see is Britain’s largest native creature and that’s the red deer. Red deer live up to about their 18 years old. They’re also herbivores. That means that they only eat plants. There’s loads of different wildlife on display here, but which have you seen? Let’s take a look and for everyone that you’ve spotted, give yourself 10 points. And finally, ah, stoat or weasel. Well, it’s really easy to tell. You see, a weasel is weaselly recognisable, whereas a stoat is stoatily different. Yeah. Now we’re going to head over the Atlantic Ocean to North America. Can you spot the wolf? Wolves used to live in Britain. Can you howl like a wolf
Asia
We’ve headed over to Asia now. You can probably see a great big tiger behind me. Tigers are the largest big cats on earth, but they’re in real danger of becoming extinct. Can you spot the orangutan? Orangutans live in Malaysia and Indonesia and are some of the cleverest creatures on earth. Some have developed the tools to help them with foraging. Some of these are things that can get inside trees to help pull out insects. Others have managed to develop a tool that will break open the hard shells of fruit to get at the seeds on the inside.
Well, maybe you can spot the snake then instead. Now this is a python. Some snakes kill their prey by biting it and poisoning it. Others, like the python, are constrictors. They wrap themselves around it and squeeze very very tight and then you can’t breathe. We think of snakes maybe as quite slow because they’re abit slithery and slippery. But actually, when they’re on the ground and they’re wriggling along, they can go really really quickly.
That brings us to the end of our wildlife safari here at Leicester Museum. Have you enjoyed it? I do hope so. There is so much more to see here though in the Wild Space Gallery at Leicester Museum. So why not come down and take a look? I hope it’s inspired you as well to have alook at some of the wildlife in your area. Why not take just half an hour and have a look at the wildlife in your garden or your nearest open space and see what you can see. Like we’ve said, if you make some small changes, theycan make a real difference in your area. And then, who knows what you might see coming into your garden or your nearest open space.