An African lioness rounds up her wayward cubs and takes a long drink from a pool of water to restore her energy on the hot, dusty savannah.

In another part of the world, a polar bear navigates an ice floe in search of something to eat.

These aren’t scenes that we normally get to witness, but an new collaboration between CI and Kango is letting kids get an up-close glimpse at the lives of threatened species in part by playing video games like Lion Cub Rescue and Polar Passage.

These games – and many others – can be found on the Tales 4 Tomorrow™ website that is home to an online world that educates children about threatened animals, and what they need to thrive and survive.

CI and Kango are also partnering on a new line of plush toys that come with access to the T4T website, which uses games, videos and virtual animal habitats to engage kids in a fun and informative way about conservation.

The partnership takes kids beyond just video games by empowering them to choose one of four CI Endangered species programs to which 5% of the proceeds of their sale will be donated.

The four projects that kids will choose to support through CI include:

• Raise the awareness of conserving the Big-Eyed Tree Frog habitat within the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania
• Maintaining and restoring tiger and Indian rhino habitat in India's North Bank including important linkages between smaller reserves
• Helping the International Tiger Coalition alliance to secure a long-term future for wild tigers by stopping trade in tiger parts and products
• Supporting Panda Guardians working to preserve wild pandas in the epicenter of the Sichuan earthquake in Wenchuan County, China

The toys themselves are made in an environmentally conscious manner, with the outer cover made from soy and cotton, and product tags made from recycled paper.

Each plush toy’s tag comes with the animal’s name and information about its conservation status. For example, the Bolson tortoise named Che Che is listed as Vulnerable. By playing the games on the site, kids earn “habitokens” to create a virtual habitat for their new friend. They can keep Che Che happy by filling his habitat with lots of plants and flowers to eat – and even schedule times for him to exercise and to go to sleep.

The other plush animals are the tree frog, tortoise, polar bear, orangutan, tiger, koala and panda – all of which are endangered.

We’re pleased to be working with Kango to educate and engage the next generation of conservationists.