It was break time one Friday at Kgopsane Primary School. The children were outside their classrooms.  Some were eating their breakfast. Some were playing around the school yard.

Someone screamed. He said he saw a stone walking in the football ground.

The pupils raced to the ground. Indeed it was a stone. But it was not walking. It was lying on the grass in the middle of the soccer field.

Mulalo and his friends were practising maths in their class. When they saw other children crowded in the middle of the field, they went to see what was happening.

They saw Buch the bully and his friends in the middle. Buch did not like Mulalo because he was a clever pupil. "We will play rugby with this stone today," said Buch.

Mulalo just arrived at the soccer field. "Stop," he shouted. "That's not a stone!" Everyone looked at him.

"What is it then?" asked Buch. "It is a tortoise."

"Ha! Ha!" Buch laughed, jeering at Mulalo with his friends.

"We will tell our teacher," said Mulalo. Mulalo and his friends rushed to tell their teacher.

Mrs Mokoena called the South African National Parks.

A big green van arrived immediately at the school grounds.

The driver, Mr Du Toit, explained to the children. "This is a tortoise, it has a hard shell protecting its body. When it is afraid, it will hide in this shell and nothing can harm it. We must protect the tortoise because it is an endangered animal. We are going to keep it in the park."

Mr Du Toit thanked Mulalo and his friends for reporting about the tortoise.

The tortoise was put in a cage. It was taken and protected in Kruger National Park.

Do you know of any other endangered animal that must be protected?

Draw this animal here.