Super Animal cards put spell on kids

COOL: The Hudson kids are hooked on Countdown's Super Animals and Riley, 7, and Joshua, 9, think finding out weird and whacky facts is really neat.PHOTO/ANDREW WARNER

Did you know the Strawberry Poison Frog is one of the deadliest animals on the planet and its skin is highly toxic because of the ants they eat?

And when its young hatch, the mother carries the tadpoles to a water-filled leaf to grow?

If you have been collecting Countdown's Super Animal cards you will. You will also be able to identify them by sight, recognise their unique sounds and know some whacky and educational facts.

Tauranga mother-of-three Katrina Hudson said they had amassed about 50 cards since the campaign launched at the end of last month.

The series includes 108 animals that had been broken into categories such as The Loudest, The Showiest, The Fiercest, The Smartest, The Fastest, The Sneakiest, The Toughest and The Weirdest, with the Grizzly Bear, Whooping Crane, Bornean Orangutan, Green Herron, African Buffalo, Babirus, Black Namba Snake, Praire Rattlesnake and Black and Gold Howler Monkey falling into each section.

Her 4-year-old Sara was most intrigued with the cards and enjoyed learning about the animals, she said.

"I think they are brilliant. She is quite into animals at the moment, so it's quite appropriate for her."

The sounds the cards made when put through the reader were "really authentic," she said, and the album contained a lot of information.

It is only early days as the promotion runs until the middle of next month but the grandparents had already been called in to help increase the collection, she said.

"We have asked the grandparents but my sister-in-law got in first, so they will sort of have to remember to divide them between us."

Countdown would pledge $1 from every album sold to the SPCA and Mrs Hudson said it felt like she had contributed to a worthwhile cause.

Bureta Park Countdown store manager James Liddell said the cards were well received by customers.

There has certainly been a lot of interest, he said, and he was collecting them for his grandson.

"I think they are a good learning experience and quite interactive and engaging."

Countdown marketing general manager Bridget Lamont said proceeds from the album sales would go toward Shelter Buddy, an animal management system for all the regional SPCA centres to share information.

Response from around the country, including Tauranga, had been positive, she said. "We've had a lot of feedback about the hours of fun the cards are providing."