Leo wrote in his diary about his adventures with his grandfather. Grandfather took Leo on a walk and taught him many things, including that tigers are an endangered species with only about 7,000 left in the wild. Grandfather said that as Leo grows up he will learn to hunt larger animals. Leo's mother later explained that tiger families are usually large with 1-5 cubs, but not all cubs survive due to sickness or being taken to zoos by humans.

1. Leo’s Diary By Karina

2. Dear diary, Today I went to go visit my grandpa Avanindra . When I saw him I tackled him and started wrestling with him but then he pinned me down and tickled me. Before I left he said “Leo, come back tomorrow and I’ll take you on an adventure!”.

3. 8/13/09 Dear diary, Last night all I could think about was the adventure that grandpa was going to take me today. I even had a dream about it. In my dream Grandpa and I went to the forbidden city. We found lots of treasures and my mommy and daddy were so proud of me. When I woke up I was so excited about today I hurried to finish my breakfast and went to grandpas. I got there and he took me for a walk. 8:00am

4. 8/13/09 2:45 Wow! Today I learnt a lot from grandpa. He told me things I never knew about! He told me that cubs like me were very rare because of our fur. He told me that selfish people would kill tigers for their fur. But now that is illegal because tigers are an endangered species. I asked him what that meant and he said that it meant that there isn’t many of us left around and the humans have to help us instead of hunting us .He told me that there’s about 7,000 tigers left. A lot of them are in captivity near the humans and some are still in the wild like us.

5. He also told me that when I grow up I might weight up to 500 pounds! And my sister Anushri can weigh up to 350 pounds. He also said that its important for me to eat healthy so I can be as strong as him and my daddy. Now I can’t wait to be grown up. I wonder if my friends now this already. Grandpa told me that I’m going to learn to hunt larger animals soon. So far all I can hunt are small things like pigs since I’m only a cub. Him and my parents eat bigger animals, like antelope ,buffalo ,cattle and occasionally pigs. After that my mom picked me up because I was getting pretty tired. I hope she lets me go visit grandpa again tomorrow.

6. Dear diary, This morning momma told me why tiger families are big. She said that when two tigers fall in love they sometimes decide to start a family. Usually there’s 1-5 cubs in a litter. Not all cubs make it tough. Some die of sickness and some get taken away by humans. They take them to a place called a “zoo”. I don’t know what that is and I don’t want to find out. I like my life in the wild.

7. Dear diary, This is the last day of vacation and I have to go back to school tomorrow. I heard we were going to run a mile in P.E.! So for now I have to go. So goodbye! See you next vacation! Bye!