In Australia at the Australian Zoo, it was very windy on a Tuesday. I had a package that was supposed to be delivered, but never showed up. So I went to the doors. There I found something interesting. I found a box that had DANGEROUS on it.

The next day, I grabbed the box and went to the office of Ms. Aqua. I was surprised that she was there working on a turtle’s hurt flipper. I took the box closer to her. We felt a shock. Then we opened the box slowly. There was a hungar in the box!

The hungar first starts out as a routh. A routh mostly only can stand. A routh can grow horns in two years. When a routh completely grows its horns, it can live with its parents for six more years. The female hungar mates with a male. Two years later, the female can have babies.

A hungar uses its sharp tail to feel things. A male hungar uses its horn to defend itself from predators. A female hungar uses its horn to smell and defend. A hungar can live up to 128 years.

The hungar is an herbivore. A hungar eats berries, grass, seeds, and wheat. A wolf eats a hungar for meat. A human kills a hungar for skin. A kangaroo hunts a hungar to get the energy when food is hard to find.

Now I have to make a habitat for the hungar. It will be one of the rarest animals here at the Australian Zoo. If you want to see the hungar, one of the rarest creatures, on the planet, come to the Australian Zoo.

Written by Margaret

I thought it was going to be a regular Friday, the kids coming to see the animals here at the Virginia Zoo, but I was wrong! When I got to work, I saw a big, red box stamped dangerous! I called the boss, Jose, and the vet, Rosy. Hey! I wasn’t going to see this dangerous animal alone!

When we opened the box, it was a monkrab! Luckily I had researched the monkrab before. It has four dangerous parts – its claws, laser eye vision, strong tail, and it’s poisonous, but only to its prey. So I knew it wasn’t going to hurt us. So I figured we could put it out to show. The boss thought that was a great idea!

So the gates opened and the monkrab was in a cage. The kids wanted to know all about the monkrab so I told them. Baby monkrabs are called monks. Mother monkrabs lay their eggs in the sand and four months later they hatch. Baby monkrabs grow their wings in spring. The mother feeds the monk sardines or apples. They eat everything except humans. They live near beaches, wetlands, underwater, and near oceans and rainforests. Its predators are sharks and octopi.

The kids kept looking and taking pictures and asking if they could feed it. I said, “No.” Six hours later the gates were closed, but I know the kids will come back.

Written by Haley

When I woke up today, it seemed like an ordinary day. Boy that was going to change! I got prepared for work at the zoo, I got in my van and drove there. The animals needed their breakfast. I got food one by one. I was exhausted after that. I went to get a drink, but I decided to check on the other workers and see how they were doing. Everything was fine until I checked on Alex.

When I entered the room, I saw Alex with a box. I asked him what it was. He didn’t know either. He decided to open the box, so I went with him. I grabbed the net ready to catch it. When he opened the box, I dropped the net. When I saw what was in the box, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I thought it was alive! But I couldn’t see what it was. Then Alex reached into the box. I suddenly realized what it was. “Wait! Don’t open it!” I said, but I was too late.

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Today I checked the list. We’re getting a new animal! Huh? What is that? I checked. It was a box with air holes. It had a stamp that said DANGEROUS! I was excited. I opened it and saw a shark-headed goat.

It likes to eat grass, fish, whales, skunks, berries, and sometimes bats. Well, do you think it’s hungry? Hhhmmm….

The book said it lives in grassland, forests, oceans, zoos, and deserts. First it is a yunk, then kid, teen, and adult. Wow! It can live for 3,025 years if its predators – bears, tigers, lions, and porcupines don’t eat it. For adaptation, it has sharp teeth, a stinger to poison the enemy, sharp claws to catch prey, and it’s also nocturnal.

We’re lucky it’s asleep. We put him in the cage. We had the weirdest day to be honest!

Written by Roony

Like every Friday, I clean the cages, feed the animals, make sure they are healthy, and give customers maps. But today was different. Just as I was about to leave, I saw a wooden box with air holes on top. The box was stamped DANGEROUS. I quickly called my manager into my office. I slowly opened the box and I couldn’t believe my eyes. I saw a PETIE!

I quickly placed a net over it so it wouldn’t fly away and become a fake flower petal. I quickly told my manager to find a cage with lots of flies and ants so the petie can eat, and to make sure no sneaky snakes or ducks get in, so they won’t eat the petie.

Peties are carnivores. Peties live in flowers, trees, fields, and grass, so peties are impossible to find in deserts. Peties have tongues to catch their prey. Peties are impossible to find because they blend in with the other flower petals, and it folds its wings back so it won’t get noticed. Peties are born without wings so it can’t fly, and when they’re born, they’re green so they blend in with the grass. A group of eggs is called a “flower.” When a petie grows bigger, it grows tiny wings. When the petie is an adult, it has wings so it can fly.

I told my manager the facts, and my manager said, “Interesting.” My manager decided to keep it in the zoo for other customers to see.

Written by Amy

I thought it was going to be a regular day, but then at the zoo, I found a box with air holes and danger taped on it. When I opened the box, I saw the strangest animal – a cowpup! It looked like a cow and a dog mixed together. It had different colors of fur, a sharp bell, and its ears were flapping. It looked so cute!

A tag said it lived in the Piedmont Region on farms, in tall trees, near the ground, and in forests. They weigh one gram when born. It dies when it’s 100 years old! They are blind when they are babies. A female cowpup can have 1,000 babies in a day.

It also said they use a sharp bell to protect themselves from predators. Also, its tail has a sharp point to protect itself. When I read more about a cowpup, I found out that its ears help it fly, its fur helps it camouflage, and its eyes help it look through everything sharply so it can find food.

I also looked up its food chain on the computer. It eats jelly, Oreos, hay, and animals like chickens, hawks, snakes, raccoons, and goats. Humans like to hunt it for its colorful fur. After I researched all of that, I kept it to give to my little brother. He loves cows and dogs!

Written by Kaylee

One Friday I was searching on Google for a new animal to show at my zoo. Then I found one. The animal’s name was lupper. So I went to Amazon to buy one or two. Next the animal arrived in a large box marked DANGEROUS, so I knew this wouldn’t go well.

I knew it would wreck my zoo, the Disney Zoo. So I called Mrs. Dominick from the Blue Ridge Zoo. She didn’t come, so I called Mauricio from the Valley and Ridge Zoo. I was holding a box, and Mauricio was holding a net in case one of us was not fast enough. But it was a good thing we did research together. We found out they HATE BOXES! So I got myself a net, too.

Then the moment of truth. Time to pry open the box. We thought we were going to get a life killing monster, but instead we got a lexi. You are all wondering: Wait, you were talking about a lupper, now what in the world is a lexi? A lexi is a baby-like lupper. It only has a head when it’s born. It doesn’t have poison or teeth. But since luppers eat humans, we still had to be careful. We had a lot of trouble containing it because it was freaking out. So we locked it in a cage until we got its habitat ready.

Some of you guys are asking what’s its habitat like? It lives in a city-like habitat. It lives in old shoes, sinks, and old tissue boxes. So we put a tissue box in a tube next to a chameleon’s tube. We put a tissue box in there with a bunch of leaves, bushes, and small plum trees. We quickly got it in its tube.

Come visit the now big lupper at the Disney Zoo. The teen lupper will continue to grow until it is a lupper. It has started to grow sharp teeth and poison and has a body. So come visit the Disney Zoo to see the lupper.

Written by Melissa

I am a zookeeper at Southside Zoo.  I was closing up Southside for the winter when I saw a box marked DANGEROUS!!!!  I open the box and grab the creature as fast as I can.  It tried to bite me.  Then I realized it was a bloodwing!!!  I pull out my guide book and read it.  I find the bloodwing page.  I put the bloodwing in a cage.

It looked hungry.  I read that it eats cherries, berries, mice, beetles, corn, and raccoons.  Its predators are bears, humans, and sharks.  I stop reading and give the bloodwing some cherries.

It lives in North and South America.  It migrates from North to South America so it can find warmer weather.

The bloodwing has helpful adaptations, too.  It has large, spiky teeth.  On its back legs it has tiny spikes.  The bloodwing has a sharp beak.  It has horns on its head.

The bloodwing has pink fur when it’s born.  I stop reading and look at it.  “It’s pink,” I say.  Then I continue reading.  Its back, feet and teeth are round or not grown when young.  In two years, it will be mature and old enough to mate.  The bloodwing will lay eggs 30 to 40 days after matting.  It can live for 8 – 36 years!!!

“Now I have a bloodwing!!!” I say proudly.  Come to the Southside Zoo to see the bloodwing when we open next spring!!!

Written by Liam