National Geographic Kids Chapters: Lucky Leopards: And More True Stories of Amazing Animal Rescues
Based on the hit feature in National Geographic Kids magazine, we bring you Lucky Leopards, true and inspiring stories of daring animal rescues that will engage and enchant readers of all ages.Packed with full-color photography, and written in fun and lively prose that empowers readers to keep turning pages, these heart-warming stories will leave kids hungry for more of the animal "awwww" factor.National Geographic Kids Chapters picks up where the best-selling National Geographic Readers series leaves off. This new series offers young animal lovers, who are ready for short chapters with lively, true stories just right to carry in a backpack, share with friends, and read under the covers at night.National Geographic supports K-12 educators with ELA Common Core Resources.Visit www.natgeoed.org/commoncore for more information.
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Runa and Kata explore the forest. Their spotted coats blend in with the leaves.
Runa and Kata nuzzle each other. They are as soft and cuddly as pet kittens.
March 2009, Assam, India
People watched their step in the Assam (sounds like ah-SAHM) jungle in northeast India. Roads were few and made of dirt. Trees grew so close together they almost touched. And bushy plants and fallen logs covered the forest floor. You never knew when a hungry tiger or slithering python might surprise you. This place was wild. It belonged to the animals.
Two of those animals lay sleeping in a hollow tree. They were newborn kittens, or cubs. Their mother had left them alone while she went hunting for food. The cubs should have been safe. Except before the mama returned, some woodcutters came.
The woodcutters lived in a village on the edge of the forest, in a part of India called Kokrajhar (sounds like co-kruh-JAR). They earned money by gathering firewood to sell. One man saw the hollow tree. He chopped it down with his ax. The tree landed with a thud. Then he got a big surprise.
Two tiny furballs bounced out! The startled woodcutter dropped his ax. He scooped up the tiny cats. They mewed softly. Their gray spotted coats felt as soft as a baby chick. What are they? the man wondered. Baby tigers or baby leopards?
It didn’t matter. The cubs were adorable. And there was no danger in picking them up. The babies’ eyes hadn’t even opened yet. If only I could sell these cats, he thought.
The woodcutter was very poor. He knew that wild-animal dealers would pay big money for the cubs. Then the dealers would sell the cubs for even more money. Rich collectors from other countries paid thousands of dollars for wild animals to put in their backyard zoos.
