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False If you go into the jungle today, you’re in for a big surprise 152 msafiri COOL FOR KIDS DID YOU KNOW? C ircling the equator in a rich green belt, the rainforests of Africa, Asia and South America are home to more than half of all the animal and plant species found on earth – and it’s thought that there are millions more still waiting to be discovered. Just imagine this: scientists in Panama discovered 950 types of beetle living in just one tree! But jungles aren’t just wonderful for wildlife. People need them too. Did you know that rainforests have been called the ‘ world’s largest pharmacy’? That’s because over a quarter of all modern medicines have been developed from rainforest plants. But now for the bad news: around half of the tropical forests which once covered the planet have already been destroyed by logging and other human activities. Some experts believe that by 2030 only 10% of the world’s original rainforests will remain. Q Rainforests can be soaked by almost 8m of rainfall per year. Q The cries of South American howler monkeys can be heard up to 5km away. Q Rainforest trees can reach heights of up to 90m. Q Chimpanzees keep in touch with each other by drumming their feet and hands on the buttress roots of rainforest trees. How you can help Q Find out more about rainforests from environmental organisations like the World Wide Fund for Nature. Q If you buy an exotic plant or animal, like an orchid or parrot, make sure it is not an endangered species and has not been collected from the wild. Q Start recycling paper and only use tropical wood that comes from sustainable sources. Epiphytes These are plants that grow on other plants. They include species like ferns, bromeliads and orchids and they mostly live high up in the rainforest canopy. Lianas These woody climbing plants snake up rainforest trees to reach the sunlight above. Some of them can live for hundreds of years and grow up to 1km in length! Lianas act like walkways, linking treetops in the forest canopy and allowing animals to move around. Tarzan, of course, used them to swing from tree to tree. What do you get when you cross a computer with a million mosquitoes? Gigabite Why does a hummingbird hum? Because it doesn’t know the words! JUNGLE JOkes Q They are the ‘ natural lungs’ of our planet, generating much of the Earth’s oxygen. Q They provide us with all kinds of useful things, such as medicines, chocolate ( from cocoa trees), spices ( like ginger and cinnamon), rubber, fruit and bamboo. WHY WE NEED Where the OUR RAINFORESTS things are…