Two years tick by and P-22 and his siblings are thin and hungry.  The never-ending heat and drought have scorched the hills.  The prey has left.  They need to leave their territory in search of food and water.  To do so, they need to cross the busy freeway.  P-22 does not like the freeway.  It is noisy and hot and large boxy things race along it like speeding cougars.  In the past, any time he ventured close to the freeway, his mother roared and swiped at him with her mighty paws.  Now they are all inching down the hillside towards the freeway.  They stalk forward slowly, using the dry brush as cover.  If they don’t find food shorty, they will not survive.  Already, their ribs are showing through their sagging skin.

P-22 and his siblings stay close behind their mother as they reach the side of the freeway.  They crouch down in the dirt as the large boxy things blast by them at incredible speed.  In the distance, across the freeway, they see the dark ridges of far-off mountains.  On top of one mountain, P-22 can see lights like a bunch of stars fallen to Earth.  The stars are bright and much closer than those in the sky.  He feels as if he can race across the freeway and bound up to those stars.  P-22 wonders what a star tastes like.  Is it crunchy or sweet or meaty?  It looks like there are enough stars on that ridge to feed him and his whole family.  As if in reply, his stomach rumbles in anticipation.

Finally, his mother rises and slowly steps onto the freeway.  She looks left and right and twitches her tail.  She glances over her shoulder and growls to her offspring, then dashes onto the freeway.  Instantly, the young cougars bolt after her.  Suddenly, bright lights race out of the darkness and a loud horn shatters the night.  P-22 leaps ahead, racing for the opposite side of the road and the dark hills beyond.  He runs with all his might, losing track of his mother and siblings.  All he knows is that he must run to survive.  

When P-22 reaches the other side of the freeway, he cannot find his mother and siblings.  The big dark beasts continue to blast by with great gusts of wind, blowing fumes and ruffling his patchy fur.  He trots farther away from the smell and noise, seeking the shelter of trees up a nearby hill just like his mother taught him to do.  He hides in the bushes and settles down to wait, occasionally sending out a roar in hopes his family will hear him.  The hours tick by and he falls asleep, exhausted by his nighttime adventure.

He awakes alone.  He is hungry and thirsty.  Where is his family?  He does not know, but what he does know is that he needs to eat and drink.  He slowly creeps from his hiding place and slinks higher up the hillside in search of a jackrabbit, raccoon, or possum.  Anything to fill his rumbling belly.  Soon he reaches the top of the hill and stands overlooking the valley below.  The sun is rising and the boxy beasts continue to blast along the freeway. He looks for his family and emits a dry, croaky roar, but there is no reply.  He jogs off down the other side of the hill, farther away from the freeway and deeper into the trees in search of food.

And this is how P-22 fills his days, weeks, and months – searching for food at dawn and dusk, and resting in shade and hidden lairs during the days.  One day, he is out searching for food when he smells something strange on the wind, something he hasn’t encountered before. It smells salty and musky.  His ears and tail twitch nervously as he scans the nearby brush for a hidden predator.  Suddenly he feels a pinch of pain in his shoulder and a rustling of bushes behind him.  He turns to attack but his legs are growing heavy and his head is feeling dizzy.  As if in slow motion, he sinks down to the ground and rolls on his side.  In a few seconds, he is fast asleep.

He wakes hours later, groggy and confused.  The sun has shifted in the sky and is nearing the horizon.  It is almost dusk. He sits up and instantly feels something thick around his neck.  It emits a very low hum and occasional beeps.  This bothers him tremendously and he tries to scratch it off with his mighty back paws but it won’t budge. It feels like a snake around his neck and he wishes it would slink away, but it stays latched around his neck, never moving or biting, just beeping.  

Snake or no snake, he needs to eat and so P-22 roams the hillside and neighborhoods for food and water.  There is not much to eat in these new hills on the other side of the freeway.  There are lots of buildings and barking animals, hot streets and racing objects – nothing like the quiet hillsides of his first home.  There is much more noise over here and he has to hunt very carefully to get a good meal.  And he has discovered that the stars on this mountain ridge – the ones he saw years ago from the other side of the freeway – aren’t stars at all but blinking lights on large metal beams.  They are not food at all!  He doesn’t know what they are, but he likes to sit near them at night and scan the hillside.  Sometimes he gazes off into the distance, to the hills of his first home and loving family.  

Several years pass and soon these new hills are dry.  Rodents are scarce and water has evaporated from the canyons.  P-22 hasn’t eaten in days and is losing weight.  He needs to find something to eat.  Slowly, he creeps up a ridge towards a home perched above his lair.  He keeps his head and tail down, his powerful haunches inching him forward.  His large yellow eyes scan the hillside for any sign of movement. Closer and closer he prowls to the home.  And then he smells something – a mixture of sweet and savory.  He follows the scent and comes upon a small container of what smells like food.  Without thinking, he gulps it down in huge mouthfuls, finishing the meal in a matter of seconds.  Just then, a dog starts barking, alerted by the cougar’s presence.

P-22 dashes down the hillside and zig zags into the brush, coming to rest by his hidden lair.  He sits down and licks his paws before rubbing them across his whiskers.  A few minutes later, his stomach clenches and his insides rumble.  Something is not right.  The pain in his belly intensifies, turning into a fiery burn and P-22 rolls onto his side, letting out a low moan.  Soon he sinks into a fitful sleep.  In his dreams, he smells that salty-musky scent again and he feels himself floating on air.  He is moving – he can tell by the air brushing his whiskers – but his legs are not moving.  He hears strange sounds and senses light behind his heavy eyelids but he sinks silently back into a deep sleep.

When P-22 awakes from his dreams it is dawn and the air is cool.  He is inside his lair.  He does not know how much time has passed but he remembers feeling sick and then falling asleep.  He gets up slowly to start another round of hunting.

And so the years pass and P-22 sleeps, hunts, and lounges in the Hollywood Hills.  He is the apex predator on this small patch of turf high above the freeway next to the stars.  It has been years since he has seen another cougar and he wonders where they have all gone.  Is he the only one?

Then one winter night ten years later, P-22 is walking along a narrow road on the top of the mountain.  The evening is dark and quiet. Suddenly, he hears a roar and sees a flash of light.  He tries to jump out of the way but the roaring beast is too fast for him.  He feels a sharp pain and is thrown into the air, then tumbles down an embankment.  P-22 closes his eyes and fades into sleep.  The next day he wakes up sore and in pain.  It takes a long time to stand and make his way up the embankment.  He wanders aimlessly down the street, too tired and hurt to hunt.  His only option is to go towards the homes to find some food.  Shortly thereafter, he smells that salty-musky scent and this time sees several men standing across the street.  They aim a large stick at him.  He feels a familiar prick in his shoulder and a sudden heaviness.  He drops down on his haunches and rolls onto his side, quickly fading into sleep.  P-22 never opens his eyes again but in his dreams he is racing towards his mother and siblings.  He is finally home!  

This has been the story of P-22, a real mountain lion, or puma, who lived in the Santa Monica Mountains in California.   He was born in the western Santa Monica Mountain range around 2010.  His father was named P-001 but nothing is known about his mother.  At some point in his early life, he crossed two major freeways – the 405 and the 101 – ending up in the Eastern Santa Monica Mountains around Griffith Park and the Hollywood Hills.  His territory was very small – only 9 square miles – the smallest ever recorded for an adult mountain lion – and he found himself trapped alone in this populated area surrounded by busy freeways.  

During this time, local biologists had been studying mountain lions and in March 2012, they caught and sedated P-22, then attached a tracking monitor and collar on him.  They called him P-22 – the “P” meaning “Puma” and 22 meaning he was the 22^nd puma – or mountain lion – in their study.

P-22 became a minor celebrity as sightings of him roaming the Hollywood Hills were captured by photographers.  One man hid cameras around the hillsides and eventually captured a photo of P-22 near the famous Hollywood sign.  This iconic photo was then featured on the front of National Geographic Magazine.

In 2014 and 2015, P-22 was captured again by the biologists and treated for rat poisoning and mange.  He was released back into the Santa Monica Mountains where they continued to track him for the next seven years.  However, in December 2012, P-22 was hit by a car.  The biologists captured and evaluated him.  Due to the severity of his injuries, plus other life-threatening conditions including kidney failure, heart disease, and skin diseases, he was put to sleep.

In February 2023, a large blessing ceremony was held to “welcome P-22 back to his homeland.”  This event was attended by approximately 6,000 people, including celebrities, musicians, and politicians, as well as representatives from Native American tribes such as the Chumash and Shoshone.  Shortly thereafter, P-22 was laid to rest in a private location in the Santa Monica Mountains.

P-22 left behind an amazing legacy. He became an ambassador for animal conservation and the plight of California mountain lions.  He was dubbed the “Brad Pitt of mountain lions” and conservationists soon lobbied for the creation of a wildlife crossing over the 101 freeway.  This crossing would allow mountain lions and other wildlife to safely cross between the two mountain ranges, thus safeguarding these species and ensuring animal diversity among the two ranges.  This crossing broke ground in 2022 and is expected to be completed in 2025.

Additionally, P-22 has been the subject of books, TV shows, songs, and murals highlighting the Los Angeles lifestyle and the importance of wildlife conservation. His image is also being considered for a statute and a postage stamp.

Who could imagine that one mountain lion could impact California in such a large – and positive – way? 

What do you think of P-22 and his life in the Hollywood Hills?  Have you ever seen a mountain lion in the wild or at a zoo? 

The post P-22 The Hollywood Cougar appeared first on Bedtime History: Podcast and Videos For Kids.

But it doesn’t walk the earth, it swims in the ocean! It’s a blue whale! These animals can be over 100 feet long, and weigh about 200 tons. Its heart is the size of a small car!

I’ve been pretty fortunate to be close to some of these amazing animals. Once, when I was paddleboarding with my son, a mother and baby humpback whale were playing in the water not far from us. Another time, we were snorkeling and could hear their songs in the water all around us. We’ve also been able to see them up close during boat rides.

Whales and dolphins have captivated people for thousands of years. Blue whales usually stay in deeper water, but dolphins often play and jump near the shore, and you don’t have to go too far out in a boat in many areas to glimpse a whale. Their size, power, and, in some cases, friendly nature, seem to pique our curiosity. There are cases of whales and dolphins warning people of danger, even saving their lives. And for thousands of years, we’ve watched and wondered about these magnificent creatures. 

Whales and Dolphins in Stories

If you’ve been listening for a while, it probably won’t surprise you to find out that people have been telling each other stories about whales and dolphins for thousands of years. The Maori, the native people of New Zealand, consider whales to be kaitiaki, or guides for sailors. In fact, a whale even played a part in helping them find their homeland! According to Maori legend, Paikea was the favorite son of his father, the chief of their tribe in what is now the Cook Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. Paikea’s brothers were jealous of him, and one night he overheard them plotting to drown him when he went out fishing the next day. Knowing of the plot, he was able to get away in his canoe, but he ended up drifting at sea, not knowing which direction to go to get back. As Paikea’s hope began to die, a whale picked him up and carried him all the way to New Zealand! There, he started his own settlement and became a beloved leader. The movie Whale Rider follows a modern Maori girl who wants to be the chief of her tribe, following in her grandfather’s footsteps. When she is told a girl can’t become chief, she decides to prove herself by riding a whale, just like Paikea. 

Arctic Tribes and Whales

Various arctic tribes in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and elsewhere, consider whales to be symbols of their way of life. They carve them into totem poles and have a long tradition of hunting them using traditional tools and weapons. Unlike the whaling industry that grew later, these hunters only take the small number of whales that the tribe will be able to use. 

Ancient Greeks and Dolphins

The Ancient Greeks were fascinated by dolphins. Their legends told of dolphins saving people lost at sea by riding them to shore. Ancient coins even show people riding dolphins. Dolphins were even said to have led a group of priests to the spot where they would set up one of most important religious sites in Ancient Greece, the Oracle at Delphi.

Jonah and the Whale

And of course, there’s the story of Jonah and the Whale in the bible. But did you know that this story is not only in the Christian Old Testament, but also the Jewish Torah and the Muslim Koran? In all three stories, Jonah disobeys God’s command to go into a city to preach about him. He boards a boat to run away, but soon the boat is caught in a storm. The sailors on the ship suspect that Jonah’s god is angry at him and causing the storm, so they throw him overboard. Soon, a huge whale swallows him, takes him all the way to the city where god wanted him to go, and spits him out on the shore.  

Whale Hunting

Although whales and dolphins are the helpers and even heroes of many folk stories, people haven’t always been heroes to them. Humans began hunting whales over 8,000 years ago. For people who lived near coastlines, they were a valuable source of food – one whale could feed a lot of people after all! Traditional hunting like this didn’t endanger whales, or bring them close to a point where there wouldn’t be any left. For a long time, people hunted from small boats with simple weapons, and took only the few whales they could use.

But by the 17th century, things were changing. Whaling, as whale-hunting was called, was becoming more sophisticated and more organized. And people were making a lot more money from it. Food wasn’t the main goal – people had found many uses for different parts of whales. The oil in the whale’s body could be used to lubricate machinery, and make oil lamps, candles, and soap. Sperm whales were especially valued: their bulbous heads alone could contain over 6 thousand pounds of oil! Baleen – the fibery material in many whales’ mouths that helps them catch their dinner of tiny krill – was lightweight and flexible, but strong. People used it to make the frames of umbrellas, mattress springs, and horse whips. 

Hunting the biggest creatures on Earth could be dangerous. Men would set out from a whaling ship in small rowboats, armed with harpoons that they would hurl by hand at these gigantic animals. Of course, most creatures do what they can to avoid being killed, and whales are no different. They could ram into the side of the boat or even lift the smaller boats out of the water by swimming up under them. Herman Melville based his famous novel, Moby Dick, on a real whaling voyage that ended tragically for the crew when a sperm whale attacked the ship, sinking it. In the novel, Melville imagines Captain Ahab, a whaler obsessed with getting revenge on the “white whale”, Moby Dick, who long ago bit off his leg. Ahab becomes so dangerously obsessed that he ends up losing his ship, his crew, and his life to the whale.

But whaling was big business in the 18th, 19th, and early 20th century. As I mentioned, whale oil and baleen had many uses, so whalers could make a lot of money. And, as time went on, people invented more sophisticated tools for hunting whales. By the early 20th century, some species of whale were getting dangerously close to becoming extinct. But technology kept getting better (or worse, if you think about it from the whale’s perspective). People invented harpoon guns, and harpoons that would explode when they hit the whale. They began using high-tech electronics and helicopters to track the whales. 

Whales can Sing?

People began to question whether we should be hunting whales at all by the middle of the century.  Some species were close to extinction – there were so few left that scientists warned that soon, there wouldn’t be any. Scientists also began to realize that whales are intelligent and complex. Many live in groups and cooperate with each other to hunt and stay safe. They communicate with clicks, chirps and, in some cases, whole songs! A Navy engineer named Frank Watlington first recorded the songs of humpback whales in the 1960s. He shared these recordings with some friends who were biologists, Roger and Katharine Payne. The group was so astounded by the songs, they wanted people to appreciate how amazing and complex these creatures are. So they decided to release an album of whale songs! People loved the whale songs – they’re actually very relaxing and melodic, and the record was a hit! In fact, one of the recordings was sent into space on a probe called Voyager – so someday in the far-off future, aliens might even be able to appreciate these gifted whale vocalists.  

Not only did people like listening to the whales, the record inspired many people to start caring about whales. They began to realize that if we kept hunting them, we’d lose these amazing creatures. People  began to organize and protest commercial whaling. Some even went out on boats, trying to get between whaling ships and the whales they were hunting. The movement even inspired a science fiction movie, Star Trek IV, where space travelers go back in time to the 20th century to rescue a pair of humpback whales who can save the future Earth. 

Freeing the Whales

Popular culture had an impact in this case. Commercial whaling was finally banned in 1986. Not all countries agreed to the ban, but most did. Japan, Iceland, and Norway kept hunting whales, though Iceland has pledged to stop by 2024.

But by this time, some whales faced a different kind of mistreatment. Many orcas and dolphins were used for entertainment at water parks around the world. Some were well-treated, but many weren’t. They were often kept in tanks that were too small, and water that was too hot or not salty enough, like the ocean water they normally live in. This made many whales sick. Again, it was pop culture, a movie that spurred change. The movie Free Willy came out in 1993. In it, a lonely boy befriends a captive orca named Willy. He realizes that Willy is sick and wants to live free in the ocean. 

The movie sends the message that these majestic creatures belong in the wild, but the orca actor, Keiko, who starred in the movie was anything but free. In fact, Keiko lived in a too-small, too-hot tank in a Mexico City marine park, and actually was sick. Fans of the movie were outraged and wrote letters and raised funds to help free the real Willy. Finally, five years after the movie came out, Keiko was released into the wild in Iceland. He was fitted with a tracking device, and lived until 2003, or about 25 years old. Wild male orcas often live up to 35 years, but Keiko was already in poor health and probably not well-prepared to live in the wild. Today, dozens of orcas are still held in captivity. They often suffer from health problems, and don’t live as long as their wild cousins. 

Watching Whales and Dolphins

The best way to see whales today is in the wild!  Many organizations offer whale watching trips that let humans see whales in their natural habitat. You go out in a boat to an area where wild whales usually hang out and wait for them to show themselves. Sometimes you see just glimpses of backs and tails as they surface for air.  Watching the water spout from their blowholes is fun!, But other times you’ll see them breaching or rolling in the water, playing and showing off. If you find yourself near the ocean, you can also just sit and look out at the water. If you’re patient and stay long enough, you might see a group of dolphins, or pod, jumping and playing offshore. Be sure to bring a camera and binoculars! That way, both you and the creatures you’re watching can enjoy the experience. 

Sources

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/feb/04/iceland-to-end-whaling-in-2024-demand-dwindles

https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/oceans-the-great-unknown-58.html

https://wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/?13796/The-History-of-Whaling-and-the-International-Whaling-Commission-IWC

https://whalewatch.co.nz/our-people/indigenous-kiwi-and-paikea/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moby-Dick

https://wwhandbook.iwc.int/en/species/blue-whale

Gish, Melissa. (2012) Whales. Creative Education. Mankato, MN.

Sandstrom, Donna. (2021) Orca Rescue! The True Story of an Orphaned Orca Named Springer. Kids Can Press. Toronto.

The post Whales and Dolphins Facts for Kids appeared first on Bedtime History: Podcast and Videos For Kids.

Early Days of Wangari Maathai

This is the world Wangari Maathai knew as a child. Born in the rainy season in the highlands of Kenya to a farming family, she spent a lot of time outdoors. She learned to observe the natural world: the rains, the rocks, the plants, and animals. She grew her own garden, diligently tending her crops. She fetched water from a spring where it bubbled up out of the ground and found hideaways behind forest plants. She learned how the rain fed her family’s crops, which fed her family and provided them with income when they sold the excess. She learned how that rain flowed down to rivers, providing clean drinking water for people and animals. 

She learned to respect nature because it could be dangerous. Animals hid in the forest – leopards and elephants. She learned to care for it because it could also be fragile. Human beings could easily throw things out of balance by taking more than they needed from them, or not protecting what they gave them.  

When she was eight, Wangari left her little farming village. Her mother took her and her older brothers to the nearby town of Nyeri so her brothers could go to school. In the 1940s, girls in Kenya rarely went to school. Wangari went along so that she could help her mother around the house with cooking and cleaning. But within weeks of their arrival, it became clear that this plan would never work. Wangari asked her older brothers about what they were learning each day when they got home from school. Soon, one of the brothers asked their mother why she couldn’t just go to school too.  Her mother decided this wasn’t a bad idea, and soon, Wangari was going off to school each day too.

Wangari loved school and did well. She especially loved learning about the living world, the plants, and the animals that had been her constant companions when she lived in her small farming village. She graduated high school in 1959 but didn’t want to stop. As unusual as it was for a girl to finish high school in Kenya at that time, it was almost unheard of for one to go on to college. But Wangari heard about a program that sent Kenyan students to the United States for college. She applied and got a scholarship! Wangari was off to study at Mount Saint Scholastica College in Kansas. 

Educational Adventures of Wangari Maathai

The 1960s were a time of big social changes in the United States. Women and African Americans were fighting for rights that they had been denied for a long time. They wanted equal opportunities to work and go to school, and they wanted unfair laws to be struck down. It was an exciting time, and Wangari embraced the ideals of equality and freedom. She went on to get a Master’s degree in biology at the University of Pittsburgh before returning to Kenya.

While she was gone, Kenya had gone through some big changes of its own. The country had been controlled by the British empire since the 1920s, but in 1963, it gained its independence. When Wangari returned, she came back to a country that was finally run by its own people. Wangari was excited to be a part of her country’s history. She hoped she could help it become a place where all people have equal rights and opportunities.

But, Wangari still wasn’t done learning. She began studying to become a veterinary doctor at the University of Nairobi. She became the first woman in East Africa to earn such an advanced degree! She began working as a professor at the university, teaching others about veterinary medicine. 

Working Towards Democracy

Even though she was busy working at her job and starting a family by this time, Wangari kept thinking about how she could help make her country reach the ideals of democracy and equality. She took time to notice the problems facing the people of Kenya. One thing she noticed was that the lush, green hillsides she had explored as a child, the forests that had first taught her about the natural world, had changed. So many trees had been cut down that the land looked bare. Under British rule, people had cut down huge swaths of forest to make way for crops that could be sold for lots of money overseas, like coffee and tea. For someone who loved nature, like Wangari, this was a sad thing, but she knew it wasn’t just a problem for the trees. This deforestation was a problem for people too. 

Trees help the land in many ways. They provide shade on hot days and grow fruit that people and animals eat. With their deep, spreading roots, they keep the soil on mountainsides from washing away in the rain. With so many trees gone, the rainy season no longer meant good crops and drinking water. Instead, the rain washed all the best soil down the hillsides, and into the rivers below. This made it harder to grow crops, so farmers couldn’t earn enough money to support themselves. It also made the rivers dirty, so the water wasn’t good to drink. With fewer trees, people had to walk farther to find firewood, which made it harder to cook meals.

These problems especially affected women, because they were the ones who went to fetch water and firewood. They had to walk further and further to find clean water and large trees. 

Wangari wanted to help return her country to the beautiful, green landscape she’d known as a child, and, at the same time, fix the problems that deforestation had caused. If she could help people plant trees, they would also be able to grow more crops, so they could earn enough money to live off of. They would be able to find clean water and firewood nearby. 

Wangari worked with a women’s group to pay women in rural areas of the country to plant trees. This helped with both deforestation and poverty since these women now earned a little bit of money to help their families. She taught women all over Kenya how to plant trees in nurseries, then transplant them into wild areas. At the same time, she taught them about how trees helped keep the land and their communities healthy. She called this project the Green Belt Movement because they planted trees in rows that would look like long, green belts across the land.

At first, the Kenyan government didn’t like Wangari’s movement. Didn’t like that a woman was taking charge, didn’t like that people planting trees weren’t professional foresters, and didn’t like that she helped poor people take control of their lives. Many in the government thought it would be better to make money for themselves by selling the deforested land to people who wanted to build on it. Wangari was attacked, beaten, and arrested.  But she never gave up. The Green Belt Movement planted millions of trees in Kenya. Hillsides became green again. Trees helped hold soil in place so it didn’t wash away into the rivers, making them mucky and brown. 

Wangari was even elected to Kenya’s parliament in 1997. She got 98% of the vote, which is very unusual for an election! Later, she was made minister of the environment. She helped make policies that would ensure long-lasting change and protection for the environment. Wangari felt that protecting the environment was a critical part of keeping people healthy and provided for. She had seen how the trees planted by the Green Belt Movement helped people out of poverty, cleaned up rivers, and made the soil healthy again. 

Over time, Wangari’s movement started to mean more than just trees. People started to see that it was about helping people who were suffering, and when you do that, you create a more peaceful society. When people have what they need, they can help others too. They also saw that the small act of tree-planting, when many people did it, had a huge impact. This is how democracy works too: when enough people vote or speak out, small acts can amount to big changes.  Kenya was working towards becoming a democracy during this time, so this was an important idea to spread. The trees planted by the Green Belt Movement became symbols, reminding people of how they could overcome their differences, make better decisions together as a country, and live in peace.

Nobel Peace Prize

In 2004, Wangari received a huge honor. She won the Nobel Prize for Peace. The Nobel Peace Prize recognizes someone who has done big things to support peace between countries or help people who were suffering. With her trees, Wangari had helped end suffering for people in Kenya and create a healthy environment where they could live peacefully for years to come. She did this even while she faced serious opposition from her own government. She worked not only to improve the natural environment but to guide her country towards democracy so that everyone could have a voice in how things were run. 

Wangari became ill and passed away in 2011, but the movement she started continues. They still plant trees in Kenya, but also partner with other groups around the world to plant trees and tackle other problems like climate change and inequality. Even though the world faces a lot of big problems, it’s important to remember that even small acts can lead to big change, if enough people do them. There are so many things you can do to help, too! Plant a tree, donate food to a food pantry, or just say a kind thing to someone.  If you do it, maybe someone else will too. All these little acts add up, bringing us closer, as Wangari put it, to “a time when we have shed our fear and give hope to each other.” 

Sources

https://www.climatestotravel.com/climate/kenya

http://www.greenbeltmovement.org/ 

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2004/maathai/lecture/

https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1860/14.%20Kenya%20Country%20Profile.pdf

Crayton, Lisa A (2020). Wangari Maathai: Get to Know the Woman Who Planted Trees to Bring Change. Capstone, North Mankato, MN

Maathai, Wangari (2006) Unbowed. Random House, New York.

Swanson, Jennifer (2018) Environmental Activist Wangari Maathai. Lerner Publishing, Minneapolis.

The post History of Wangari Maathai for Kids appeared first on Bedtime History: Podcast and Videos For Kids.

Do you have a special toy that helps you go to sleep at night? Maybe a bear, or a rabbit, or a penguin? Lots of kids have stuffed animals that help them feel safe and cozy at night. 

The scientist Jane Goodall also had a special stuffed animal when she was a child. Her story starts back in 1930s London, and it was her father who gave her the special animal. Its name was Jubilee, and Jubilee was a chimpanzee. Her father didn’t know it at the time, but chimpanzees would turn out to be a very important part of Jane’s life. As a grown-up, she would become a primatologist, a person who studies apes and monkeys. She would become one of the first people to study chimpanzees in the wild, and one of the first women in the field of primatology. 

Jane was obsessed with all kinds of animals from a young age, not just chimpanzees. When she was a toddler, she brought worms into her bed because she was so curious about them. Instead of getting mad when she found her daughter carefully watching her wriggly new friends, Jane’s mother told her gently that the worms couldn’t survive inside, and needed to be outside in the dirt. I don’t know, but maybe this is what made her father think that she needed a special stuffed animal to sleep with!

Living in the city, Jane didn’t have a lot of opportunities to watch animals. That’s why it was so exciting when she got to visit a relative’s farm when she was four. At the farm, she was given the job of gathering eggs that the chickens had laid. Being a very curious child, Jane wanted to know how the hens laid their eggs. She watched them pecking around the yard, but they never laid eggs there. She watched them going into the henhouse, but couldn’t really see them laying there either, but it was hard to see inside. She asked the grown-ups in her family, but they wouldn’t tell her either. So Jane hatched a plan. She knew that the chickens laid their eggs on special nests in the henhouse, so she decided to go inside, watch quietly, and wait. 

So one morning, that’s what she did. She crawled into the henhouse, covered herself in hay, and sat in a dark corner. Then she waited. And waited. And waited. For hours. The grown-ups had no idea where she was, and became worried.  As the day wore on and Jane didn’t come home, they started looking for her, calling her name as they walked all around the fields and surrounding area. 

But still, Jane waited and watched. Finally, late in the afternoon, her patience paid off: She saw a hen lay an egg! She burst out of the henhouse, hay stuck to her clothes and hair, shouting to her parents about her discovery. Fortunately, Jane’s mother again saw things from her daughter’s perspective. She sat down with Jane and listened while she told her all about her discovery, how chickens lay eggs. Jane’s mother realized that she had a curious, determined, and patient daughter, and wanted to support and encourage her. 

Inspired by the book Tarzan and the Apes, Jane decided at age 10 that she wanted to go to Africa to study animals and write books about them. At the time, most grown-ups around her thought this was a crazy idea. World War II was raging in Europe, and Africa was known back then as a “dark continent” because not many Europeans had explored it and it wasn’t easy to travel there. People also thought back then that adventures like the one Jane was dreaming of were just for boys. But Jane’s mother was not most grown-ups. As always, she supported her daughter. She told her that it wouldn’t be easy, but if she worked hard and took any opportunity that came along, she could do whatever she set her mind to.

As a young woman, Jane continued to dream of going to Africa to study animals. Her opportunity finally arrived when she was 23, and a friend invited her to visit Kenya. She moved back to her parents’ home and worked very hard for a whole summer to earn enough money to make the journey. Finally, she made enough to buy a ticket on a boat and make the first part of her dream come true: she was on her way to Africa.

Once she was in Africa, Jane met the famous anthropologists Louis and Mary Leakey. Louis was impressed by Jane and hired her to work as his secretary in Tanzania, where he and his wife were doing their own research. After a few years, he sent Jane to the Gombe Preserve in Tanzania to study chimpanzees. The second part of Jane’s dream was coming true!

But it wasn’t as simple as packing her bags and heading into the forest. As one of the first women in primatology, the British managers of the preserve thought that Jane wouldn’t be safe as a young woman working in the wilderness. They insisted that she bring a chaperone, or someone to look after her, even though she was a grown-up who had lived by herself before. Jane’s mother stepped forward once again to support her daughter and went with her to Gombe as she started her research. 

The forest was a thick tangle of trees, plants, and vines, and there were dangerous animals to worry about. Jane’s tools when she went out to observe the animals were basic: a notebook, binoculars, and some food. But if the managers of Gombe Preserve were afraid for Jane, it didn’t make a difference to her. Instead of being afraid when she went into the forest for the first time, Jane has said that she felt like she was “coming home” to a place where she belonged. 

Jane’s way of working with chimpanzees was unconventional for the time. At this point, she still hadn’t gone to college or gotten a degree, so she didn’t know how researchers normally did things. She gave names to the animals she observed, like Greybeard, Goliath, and Flo, instead of numbers. She would watch them quietly for hours, so they got used to her, and would sometimes even approach her. This allowed Jane to get much closer than any other scientist had before. 

But even though she didn’t do things the way a primatologist was “supposed to,” Jane’s methods turned out to work very well! With patience and perseverance, she was able to observe many things about chimpanzee life that no one had ever noticed before. She got to know each animal as an individual and saw that each chimp had a unique personality, a lot like humans. She observed them hugging, kissing, and patting each other on the back. They seemed to have human-like emotions too–to feel sad, happy, and angry. They seemed to love and show affection for each other. 

She also saw them making tools, which was hard for other scientists at the time to believe. Many of them thought that only humans made tools. She had seen chimpanzees use pieces of grass or sticks to fish termites out of holes in their mounds. They would also use rocks to pound open fruit. Child chimpanzees even have toys–they use vines to play tug-of-war!

After Jane had spent a few years observing chimpanzees at Gombe, Louis Leakey arranged for her to attend Cambridge University to earn a doctoral degree. So she went back to England for a while but returned to Gombe to continue her work there afterward. She set up a research center at Gombe where scientists still study chimpanzees today. And, just like she decided she would when she was 10 years old, she wrote several books on her experiences with the apes.

Dr. Jane, as people often call her now, still works on behalf of chimpanzees. She spends her time traveling around the world meeting and talking to people about how to help protect nature and animals. She loves speaking with young people especially and carries a stuffed monkey (not a chimp!) with her wherever she goes. She believes that young people can be very powerful and change the world if grown-ups just listen to them.

Sometimes, a person can make a difference in unexpected ways, and small actions can add up to bigger changes. Dr. Jane used her patience and determination, quietly watching chimpanzees for hundreds of hours, to learn things that no one else ever suspected. Now, she uses that quiet patience and determination to inspire others to have hope and work to make the world a better place. I’ll leave you today with a quote from Dr. Jane herself: “Each and every one of us makes a difference each and every day, and we have a choice: What kind of difference are we going to make?”

I hope Dr. Jane’s story inspires you to think about the things you can do to make a difference for the better!

Sources

https://www.janegoodall.org.uk/chimpanzees/chimpanzee-central/15-chimpanzees/chimpanzee-central/19-toolmaking

https://wiki.janegoodall.org/wiki/Jane_FAQ%27s

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Goodall

The post The Jane Goodall Story for Kids appeared first on Bedtime History: Podcast and Videos For Kids.

Imagine you are hiking through the thick green mountains of Rwanda, a country deep in the heart of Africa.  It is wet and dark in the dense leaves, plants and vines and you and your team use machetes, which are large knives, to cut through the foliage as you make your way to your destination.  There is no path for you to follow, so you use animal tracks and signs.  Finally you cut through to an open area and stop in your tracks. Everyone goes quiet. Gorillas. Dozens of them lying around and frolicking in the mist. They are exactly what you have been looking for.

Tonight we are going to learn about Dian Fossey — an American woman who loved animals and grew up to become a famous zoologist, or someone who studies animal behavior.

Dian Fossey was born in San Francisco, California in 1932.  She grew up with her mother and stepfather and developed a strong love of animals at a young age.  She enjoyed horseback riding as a kid and teenager and she dreamed of becoming a veterinarian. A veterinarian is a doctor for animals.

Dian went to college in California and started studying veterinary courses, but decided to change and study occupational therapy instead.  Occupational therapy is a type of therapy that helps people who are injured or unwell to learn to use their bodies again.

After she finished college, Dian worked at a hospital in California.  She was offered a job as the director of a children’s hospital’s occupational department in Kentucky, so she moved there in 1955. In Kentucky, Dian lived on a farm and spent a lot of her free time with the farm animals.   

Dian had decided that she wanted to travel and see other parts of the world. And she really wanted to visit Africa.  So she saved up her money and in 1963, she traveled to Africa for the first time.  While she was there, she traveled to many countries, including Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and the Congo.  

In Africa Dian met a number of other scientists and researchers.  She was inspired by the work they were doing in different areas, including paleoanthropology, or the study of human fossils, and wildlife photography.  The wildlife photographers that she met were working on a movie about African gorillas.  They took Dian along on one of their trips to find the gorillas in their natural habitat.  A habitat is an animal’s natural home or environment.

When Dian first saw the gorillas on that trip, she became instantly in love with them.  She liked that they had individual personalities and were shy.  She wanted to return again to see the gorillas.

Dian went back home to Kentucky and met others who were interested in gorillas. She met a professor named Louis Leakey and together they made plans to conduct a long-term study on the gorillas of the Rwandan mountains.  

In order to conduct the research, Dian needed to live in Rwanda and so she moved there and spent her time living mostly in the mountains with the gorillas and watching them. She lived like this for four years until a war broke out and Diana had to leave to escape the war.

Dian continued to study gorillas and worked on getting a doctorate degree based on her research at Cambridge University in England.

In 1983, Dian published a book about her research and her experience living with the gorillas.  It was called Gorillas in the Mist and it became a best-selling book. The book was even made into a popular movie in 1988.

Unfortunately there were people who did not like Dian and the work she was doing.  Many people at the time tried to hunt gorillas and kill them, since they could get a lot of money for the gorillas bodies and parts.  Dian spoke out against these hunters or “poachers” and because of this many of these hunters did not like her.  They did not want her message of protecting the gorillas to be spread. 

Sadly, on December 26, 1985, Fossey was found dead at her Rwandan forest camp. She had been killed by poachers.  However, no one was ever caught or put in in jail for what happened.

Dian’s work with gorillas continues through an international research fund called the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund.  The Fund continues to operate and has expanded to other areas of Africa.  The Fund’s goal is to protect mountain gorillas and other endangered species in the gorillas’ habitats.

Dian Fossey is considered the leading researcher on the behavior of mountain gorillas.  She worked hard throughout her life to try to protect these animals from extinction and from hunters and poachers who wanted to kill them.  Dian’s love of the gorillas helped her to see them as highly intelligent individual animals.  And her passion for helping to save them made the gorillas lives better. 

From Dian, we can learn about the power of an individual to make a difference in the lives of other beings, including animals.  Sometimes one person’s interests and efforts can help save an entire species of animal.  She showed bravery in travelling to Africa and facing the dangers of the jungles and poachers who disagreed with her.  And her strength and bravery continue to inspire others. 

Is there a type of animal that you love?  Are there ways that you can learn more about these animals? Are there ways that you can get involved in caring for them?  Like Dian, you can make a difference in the lives of animals that you love.

The post The History of Dian Fossey for Kids appeared first on Bedtime History: Podcast and Videos For Kids.