Animals in the city (A2)

Which animals can you see in cities? This article tells you about more than just dogs and cats!

Instructions

Do the preparation exercise first and then read the article. If you find it too easy, try the next level. After reading, do the exercises to check your understanding.

Preparation

Before you read the article, do this exercise. It will help you to understand some of the more difficult words.

One night in December 2011, a bear came into the city of Vancouver in Canada. It walked through the city streets past houses, shops and offices. Then it found some food in bins outside a restaurant and started eating. In the morning, someone saw the bear and called the police. The police came with a vet from the city zoo. They put the bear in a lorry and took it to the mountains outside the city. Luckily, the bear was safe. But what happens in other countries when big animals come into cities? In Vancouver it is unusual to see a bear, but in some cities you can see big animals on the city streets every day.

Big animals usually come into cities to find food. In Cape Town in South Africa baboons come into the city when they are hungry. They go into gardens and eat fruit from trees. They even go into houses and take food from cupboards and fridges! Baboons are strong animals and they can scare people. But the city can be dangerous for baboons too. Sometimes, cars and buses kill baboons in accidents. Human food is very bad for the baboons’ teeth because it has a lot of sugar. Now, there are Baboon Monitors working in Cape Town. Their job is to find baboons in the city and return them to the countryside.

In Berlin in Germany, pigs sometimes come into the city to look for food. They eat flowers and plants in parks and gardens. Sometimes they eat vegetables from gardens and they walk in the street and cause accidents. Some people like the pigs and they give them food and water to drink. Other people do not like the pigs and they want the government and the police to stop them entering the city.

In Moscow in Russia, there are 35,000 wild dogs. The dogs live in parks, old houses, markets and train stations. Some dogs live in groups and others live alone. Many people in Moscow like the dogs. They give them food and water. Some people make small houses for the dogs in their gardens. This helps the dogs in winter, when the temperature in Moscow is -10 ºC and there is a lot of snow and ice.

Many animals live in cities. In some cities, you can see birds, insects, mice and squirrels every day. But sometimes, it is dangerous when big animals come into cities to find food. We need to find ways of stopping animals coming into the city without hurting them.

Robin Newton

Discussion

Which animals do you see in the town or city where you live?

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Comments

Submitted by thao@ on Tue, 11/07/2023 - 09:09

i often see cows and buffaloes in the countryside ,and in the city i see dog and cat. i living in vietnam . i really happy when reading this write .it's very good and interesting and i learned more about animal

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Submitted by FlowerQueen on Fri, 12/16/2022 - 21:55

Hi!
Our house is near a forest, where some deers live. Sometimes, they come into town but they aren't dangerous because they are very shy and run away, if you try to get closer to them.
In our neighbourhood, I often see cats, but they don't live on the street. They all have a home.
Flowerqueen~♡

Submitted by LauraMar on Thu, 11/03/2022 - 23:30

Which animals do you see in the town or city where you live? I see too many dogs,birds, cats, some horses, flies, mosquitos, snails, bee, spiders and the animal that I see the most it is the human... what?... don't you know that the humans are monkeys but more evolved, look the theory of Charles Darwin.

Submitted by ahgima099 on Sat, 08/20/2022 - 13:33

I usually see birds, insects and rat in my city.
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Submitted by Jess1003 on Mon, 06/28/2021 - 08:54

In the summer in my city, there are many dogs roaming the streets. Most are dogs who can't stand the summer heat and run away from home. Those dogs go crazy and bite people.They were then beaten to death by people for biting people. I feel so sorry for them :(

Submitted by english_fan on Tue, 02/09/2021 - 13:29

This text is very interesting. My name is Mateusz and I am from Poland. I like birds, dogs and chameleons. In the city I see only birds.
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Submitted by Kostantinus on Thu, 02/04/2021 - 10:07

In Kiev(Ukraine) you can see some dogs and birds outside. Once I've seen a hare. It looks much different compare with a rabbit. Hare's legs and ears are bigger than rabbit's. In summer you can notice small lizards on the grass.

Submitted by chocopiexo on Wed, 10/28/2020 - 07:13

in my city there are a lot of wild cats

Submitted by 25pow on Sun, 03/29/2020 - 01:19

Wow.. a bear, I think it's cute.
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Submitted by empty on Thu, 06/13/2019 - 13:56

wow ..... this reading is really good and interesting ,

Submitted by avocado83 on Tue, 01/29/2019 - 10:53

this is a very beautiful story!

Submitted by taokhonghat on Sun, 01/20/2019 - 14:45

This article makes me think that: 'Why do those wild animal leave the forest and come to the city to find food?'
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