CAN YOU WORK OUT WHICH CREATURE WILL COME OUT ON TOP?
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AWESOME animal 300
W HO W INS?
WHO WIN S?
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First published 2025 001
Text copyright © Children’s Character Books
Text by Thea Hay
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W
HO
WI N S?
DESERTS & GRASSLANDS
1. Most devoted parent
2. Most cunning hunter
3. Show o !
4. So bashful!
5. Best dancer!
6. Best grass-eater Answers FORESTS
7. Who’s the smarty-pants?
8. Top fisher
9. Who’s calling?
13. Biggest threat Answers COASTS
OCEANS
20. Best trickster
21. Best camouflage
22. Spines! Keep away!
23. Up, up and away!
24. Cleverest dri er
25. Super shape-shi er Answers
FRESHWATER
26. Who’s hiding?
27. Highest breeding ground
28. Lurkers who lunch
29. Cut to the chase!
30. Top dad Answers EXTREMES
31. Best suited
32. Most fireproof nest
33. Strongest team
34. Blowing hot and cold!
35. Most nimble Answers
HUMANS
36. Comeback king
37. What’s for dinner?
38. Most successful city-dweller
39. Most damaging
40. Most unlikely friends Answers Glossary Picture credits
Which African big cat is the most cunning hunter – the leopard or the cheetah?
Which desert animal risks its life to protect its newborns – the chacma baboon or the ostrich?
Which creature has the most unusual hunting technique – the sea angel or the sea butterfly?
Every day, hundreds of contests like these go on in the animal kingdom. By studying the information given in the cards in this book, can you work out WHO WINS some of them? Learn about the appearance, habitat and behaviour of each pair of animals, then compare their features and strengths to predict the winner. While the contests in the book have winners and losers (and sometimes joint winners!), every animal is special. This means that in a real-life predator-and-prey scenario, the same animal won’t win every time. The natural world is full of surprises!
The contests are divided into 7 habitats:
DESERTS & GRASSLANDS
Only the most resilient animals can survive the harsh desert. While grasslands may not have the same relentless heat and droughts as deserts, life here can still be challenging, particularly as vast areas of grassland are being cleared by humans.
FORESTS
The world’s mighty forests are deep, dark and secretive. From creatures that swing through the treetops to the minibeasts on the forest floor, each animal is adapted to its own area of the forest.
COASTS
Coasts are where the world’s oceans meet land, which often creates difficult conditions for the creatures living there, who are specially adapted to cope with the harsh environment.
OCEANS
The world’s oceans are vast and deep, sometimes forcing sea creatures to travel huge distances to find food and places to breed. Other creatures live in the shallows, such as coral reefs, which can be full of predators. But their prey has sneaky survival tactics too.
FRESHWATER
Inland lakes and rivers support thousands of animal species – from fish to reptiles, birds and mammals to insects. It’s a busy environment where every animal is competing for resources.
EXTREMES
Mountain peaks and deep caves, scorched plains and freezing polar regions . . . these are Earth’s most extreme habitats. Only animals with special qualities and strengths have any chance of survival.
HUMANS
Humans are encroaching on animal habitats, but some animals have learnt to live side-by-side with them. A few ingenious creatures have even found ways to take advantage of humans being so close-by.
DE SE RTS & G R A S S L A N D S
Most devoted parent Chacma baboon
Like all mammals, a chacma baboon mother needs water if she is going to produce enough milk for her newborn – which is really hard in the desert landscape. Who gets what little water there is relies on a pecking order. A mother will travel many miles with her troop and risk many dangers to be able to feed her baby.
LOCATION:
SIZE: SPECIAL FEATURES:
STRENGTHS:
Namib desert
Up to 1.5 metres long (including tail), 40 kg in weight
Lives in groups called troops, governed by strict and complex hierarchies
Has a mental map of the desert’s water and food sources
With soaring temperatures and water scarce, deserts provide tough environments for animal parents raising their young. Trying to feed and protect newborns is a constant battle against the landscape, weather and predators –which demands stamina, determination and devotion. This often means long hours of sacrifice in the scorching heat.
Ostrich
Which is the most devoted parent – the chacma baboon or the ostrich?
Ostrich eggs are the largest in the world, weighing up to 1.5 kg each and averaging around 15 cm long. The eggs take about 42 days to hatch, during which time the mother incubates them throughout each day – even in the intense heat of the desert – while the father guards them during the night.
LOCATION:
SIZE:
SPECIAL FEATURES:
STRENGTHS: Namib desert
Around 2.5m tall, up to 135 kg in weight
Can deliver dangerous kicks if threatened Black (male) and lighter brown (female) feathers withstand heat and help avoid detection by predators
