World News for Students of English

08-07-2016 15:00

Frolicking about, these are the adorable new additions to Chester Zoo. These warthog triplets have all received rather magical names, being named after “Harry Potter” characters Hedwig, Nagini and Aragog.

Mum Tamzin and Dad Magnum are the proud parents of this tiny trio, which consists of two girls and a boy. Standing at a minuscule 20 centimetres tall, the youngsters have been taking their very first playful steps outside, having spent a few weeks in their den bonding with mum.

The intriguing species are named warthogs because they all have one or two pairs of warts on their face beneath their eyes and near their tusks. Native to Africa, they’re under pressure in some parts of the continent because of drought and hunting, which have already caused some localised extinctions.

But now these latest magical additions will join a carefully coordinated European breeding programme for the species to help boost numbers of the adorable animal. They might just be the first warthogs to join Hogwarts!

Difficult words: frolic (play or move about in a cheerful and lively way), adorable (lovable, cute), addition (something added), minuscule (extremely small), den (private home), species (an animal kind), tusks (two long horns of some animals like the wild pig or the elephant), under pressure (face a hard situation), drought (extremely dry weather), boost (increase).

Source: www.ondemandnews.com