Baby animals start out in very different ways. Some can stand in an hour.
Some baby birds are ready fast. A chick comes out of the egg with fluff. It can stand, walk or run soon after.
A new panda is about the size of a stick of butter. It is pink and blind. It cannot do much for itself.
A mother panda holds her cub close. In the first weeks, she will not leave it, even to eat or drink.
A wolf pup is born blind and deaf. It weighs about a pound. It needs its mother for warmth.
A new black bear cub weighs less than a pound. It is born naked and blind.
A new kangaroo is the size of a jellybean.
A new joey crawls into its mother's pouch by itself. It uses its front legs. As it grows, its head and feet poke out.
Most frogs come out of eggs as tadpoles. Tadpoles have gills and a tail, like little fish.
A tadpole changes into a frog. Its hind legs sprout first. Its front legs come after. The tail stump soon goes away.
A foal can walk, and even run, soon after it is born. A new giraffe is on its feet in an hour.
Songbird chicks are different. They are helpless. Their eyes are closed, and they have almost no feathers. They wait in the nest for food.
Words to know
- helpless: cannot help itself
- tadpole: baby frog
- joey: baby kangaroo
- foal: baby horse
