Tigers at Twilight (6 page)
MORE FACTS FOR YOU AND JACK
1) Adult elephants are plant eaters. They feed for 15 hours a day and can eat more than 400 pounds of vegetation every day.
2) The average weight of an Indian rhino is 4,000 pounds.
3) A giant python can grow up to 30 feet in length.
4) India has 238 kinds of snakes, ranging from the giant python to the worm snake, which is just over 4 inches long.
The Sacred Langur
Hinduism is the main religion of the people of India. It is a religion with many gods and goddesses. One of its important gods is Hanuman, who saved a Hindu goddess named Sita.
Hanuman has the body of a man and the face and tail of a langur monkey. Followers of Hinduism believe that Hanuman’s spirit is alive in the langurs of India. Hindu temples dedicated to Hanuman treat all langurs as special guests.
Endangered Species
In the nineteenth century, there were more than 40,000 tigers in India. Today there are fewer than 4,000. For this reason, the tiger is considered to be a critically endangered species.
The Indian rhino is also a highly endangered species.
The Wildlife Protection Society of India has been formed to help save India’s endangered animals. The society arrests illegal hunters and seizes wildlife products, such as tiger skins and bones, rhino horn, and elephant ivory. It also helps to alert other people around the world to India’s wildlife crisis.
Here’s a special preview of
Magic Tree House #20
Dingoes at Dinnertime
Available now!
Excerpt copyright ©
2000
by
Published by Random House Children’s Books,
a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
Annie sat on the porch steps. She stared down the street at the Frog Creek woods.
“Hey, Jack,” she said. “Do you hear it?”
Jack sat next to her. He was reading a book.
“Hear what?” he said.
“Teddy’s calling us,” said Annie.
“You’re kidding,” said Jack. But he looked down the street and listened, too.
A faint bark came from the distance.
Arf! Arf!
A big smile crossed Jack’s face.
“You hear it!” Annie said.
“Yep,” said Jack. “You’re right. Time to go.”
He stood up and grabbed his backpack.
“Be back soon!” Annie shouted through the screen door.
“Don’t be late for dinner!” their dad called.
“We won’t!” said Jack.
He and Annie ran down the street and into the Frog Creek woods.
Soon they came to the tallest oak.
There was the magic tree house. A little black nose stuck out the window.
“Hi, silly!” Annie called. “We’re coming!”
Arf!
came a happy bark.
Annie grabbed the rope ladder and started climbing.
Jack followed her up into the tree house.
A small dog sat in a circle of afternoon sunshine. His tail wagged.
“Hey, Teddy!” said Jack.
Jack and Annie hugged Teddy. And the dog licked both of them.
“Morgan’s note is still here,” said Annie.
“Yep,” said Jack. He knew the note by heart now.
This little dog is under a spell and needs your help. To free him, you must be given four special things
:
A gift from a ship lost at sea,
A gift from the prairie blue,
A gift from a forest far away,
A gift from a kangaroo.
Be wise. Be brave. Be careful
.
Morgan
Beside the note were the gifts from their first three trips:
1. a pocket watch from the
Titanic
2. an eagle’s feather from the prairie skies
3. a lotus flower from a forest in India
“We just need to get a gift from a kangaroo,” said Annie, “and Teddy will be free from his spell.”
“We must be going to Australia,” said Jack. “That’s where kangaroos live.”
“Cool,” said Annie.
Teddy whined and scratched at a book lying in the corner.
Jack picked it up.
“What’d I tell you?” he said.
He showed the cover to Annie. The title was
Adventure in Australia
.
“Great,” said Annie. She looked at Teddy. “Ready to meet a kangaroo?”
Arf! Arf!
Jack opened the book. He found a page with small pictures of different animals and a big picture of a forest. Jack pointed at the forest.
“I wish we could go there,” he said.
The wind started to blow.
The tree house started to spin.
It spun faster and faster.
Then everything was still.
Absolutely still.
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#1: D
INOSAURS
B
EFORE
D
ARK
#2: T
HE
K
NIGHT AT
D
AWN
#3: M
UMMIES IN THE
M
ORNING
#4: P
IRATES
P
AST
N
OON
#5: N
IGHT OF THE
N
INJAS
#6: A
FTERNOON ON THE
A
MAZON
#7: S
UNSET OF THE
S
ABERTOOTH
#8: M
IDNIGHT ON THE
M
OON
#9: D
OLPHINS AT
D
AYBREAK
#10: G
HOST
T
OWN AT
S
UNDOWN
#11: L
IONS AT
L
UNCHTIME
#12: P
OLAR
B
EARS
P
AST
B
EDTIME
#13: V
ACATION
U
NDER THE
V
OLCANO
#14: D
AY OF THE
D
RAGON
K
ING
#15: V
IKING
S
HIPS AT
S
UNRISE
#16: H
OUR OF THE
O
LYMPICS
#17: T
ONIGHT ON THE
T
ITANIC
#18: B
UFFALO
B
EFORE
B
REAKFAST
#19: T
IGERS AT
T
WILIGHT
#20: D
INGOES AT
D
INNERTIME
#21: C
IVIL
W
AR ON
S
UNDAY
#22: R
EVOLUTIONARY
W
AR ON
W
EDNESDAY
#23: T
WISTER ON
T
UESDAY
#24: E
ARTHQUAKE IN THE
E
ARLY
M
ORNING
#25: S
TAGE
F
RIGHT ON A
S
UMMER
N
IGHT
#26: G
OOD
M
ORNING
, G
ORILLAS
#27: T
HANKSGIVING ON
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HURSDAY
#28: H
IGH
T
IDE IN
H
AWAII
Merlin Missions
#29: C
HRISTMAS IN
C
AMELOT
#30: H
AUNTED
C
ASTLE ON
H
ALLOWS
E
VE
#31: S
UMMER OF THE
S
EA
S
ERPENT
#32: W
INTER OF THE
I
CE
W
IZARD
#33: C
ARNIVAL AT
C
ANDLELIGHT
#34: S
EASON OF THE
S
ANDSTORMS
#35: N
IGHT OF THE
N
EW
M
AGICIANS
#36: B
LIZZARD OF THE
B
LUE
M
OON
#37: D
RAGON OF THE
R
ED
D
AWN
#38: M
ONDAY WITH A
M
AD
G
ENIUS
#39: D
ARK
D
AY IN THE
D
EEP
S
EA
#40: E
VE OF THE
E
MPEROR
P
ENGUIN
#41: M
OONLIGHT ON THE
M
AGIC
F
LUTE
#42: A G
OOD
N
IGHT FOR
G
HOSTS
#43: L
EPRECHAUN IN
L
ATE
W
INTER
#44: A G
HOST
T
ALE FOR
C
HRISTMAS
T
IME
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REECE AND THE
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