The Ugly Five

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Just like the marabou stork, vultures tend to have bald, scabby looking heads. Often with unfortunate skin folds, and sometimes with unsightly, exposed ears.

Marabous are scavengers eating anything from termites, flamingoes, and small birds and mammals to human refuse and dead elephants. They also feed on carcasses with other scavengers such as vultures and hyenas. I studied Drama and French at Bristol University, where I met Malcolm, a guitar-playing medic to whom I’m now married. The ugly five is a repetitive and rhyming book which could encourage children to join in with the story. Therefore, I think it would be suitable for reception, year one and year two class. This book sits on two nerves and therefore loses a star. Nominated for the Washington State Children's Choice award, this book requires that the students know about he Big 5 and possibly the Little 5 and therefore the Shy 5. It also requires that the librarian endures rhyming couplets and the kids endure her singing the sing song verses... not winning me over. These requirements are really just my needs.Their powerful jaws can crush the bones of some of Africa’s largest animals, and their strong stomach acid makes easy work of any meal. Hyenas will eat almost anything, including hoofs and bones. Sure, they have a rather odd posture, an unflattering grin, and a slightly sinister face. Their portrayal in The Lion King didn’t do much for their reputation either. But hyenas are hardly hideous, and their cubs are even particularly cute. I grew up in a tall Victorian London house with my parents, grandmother, aunt, uncle, younger sister Mary and cat Geoffrey (who was really a prince in disguise. Mary and I would argue about which of us would marry him). For an unfortunate-looking animal, wildebeests certainly put on a spectacular show. The great wildebeest migration is the greatest movement of terrestrial mammals on Earth. Over a million wildebeest gallop through the Serengeti in search of greener pastures. Catching a glimpse of this action is a coveted safari dream. 4. Hyena They feast on carrion that could otherwise spread pathogens and they break through the tough hides of carcasses, making them more accessible to weaker scavengers. 2. Vulture

If you’ve been on safari you’ll probably be aware of ‘the big five’ of buffalo, elephant, leopard, lion, and rhino. You may also be aware of the little five, or small five animals– rhinoceros beetle, buffalo weaver, elephant shrew, leopard tortoise, and the antlion.The Ugly Five’ (2017) is a short, lovely, simple but effective and affecting story – the latest from the accomplished team of writer Julia Donaldson and Axel Sheffler – who provides the usual and wonderful illustrations to accompany the compelling rhyming words of Donaldson. Think about how the different animals move. Could you try to recreate these movements? Could you put together a dance or a performance to show these movements? However, they don’t only scavenge for their food. They’re skilled hunters, too. In fact, they’re part of the most successful predators in Africa. Some sources single out the lappet-faced vulture as the vulture’s representative in the Ugly 5. Although most of Africa’s 11 vulture species could make the cut – none are blessed with particularly good looks. The hyena also has some peculiar proportions, with all the strength loaded in their forequarters (and jaw), and the weak-looking hindquarters seemingly added as something of an afterthought. The size of a hyena’s clan can dictate the size of a kill or scavenge. A hyena clan can range in size between 12 and 24 hyenas. Some clans are even larger than this.