Children cannot tell the difference between lion and tiger
A new study shows that four out of five children can’t distinguish common zoo animals, and a lot of them are not able to tell the difference between a tiger and a lion.
It has been shown that about a quarter of children have never been to a zoo or animal park, with over a fifth having ever watched a wildlife programme on TV at the least twice.
As a result, a fifth of children aged between four and 12 can only correctly distinguish up to four basic wild animals such as gorillas, cheetahs and chimpanzees.
The survey showed that, out of 1,000 children, over a half of them struggled to describe a crocodile, while 44 per cent were unable to recognize a leopard and 12 per cent did not know what a gorilla was.
A further 14 per cent could not tell a male lion apart from a female by its mane.
Television presenter and wildlife expert Michaela Strachan said that the fact that so many British children could not identify basic animals was shocking.
She continued to say that learning about animals is a crucial part of a child’s education, and while visiting a good zoo is a great way to do so, it isn’t always convenient for parents to take their children to one is due to distance and cost.
The research found that children in Northern Ireland had the weakest animal knowledge with 15 per cent failing to recognize over two basic animals, while children in Yorkshire knocked spots off the competition by correctly describing an average of six animals.