India is a country with rich biodiversity and abundant wildlife which also includes unique species such as barking deer, royal Bengal tiger, spotted deer and elephant. In recent years, wildlife in India has been depleting due to deforestation, hunting for skin, and flesh etc. Many wildlife conservation organizations in India have undertaken various measures to protect the wildlife of the country.
India observes and celebrates wildlife week from October 2nd to October 8th every year. The Indian Board of Wildlife started this to create awareness among the people regarding India’s rich wildlife and the need to conserve the same.
Bhavans Eco Club, the environmental club of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Kuwait celebrated world wildlife week from 1st to 5th of October under the aegis of the Department of Science and Mr. T. Premkumar, an environmental enthusiast and the principal of Indian Educational School. The main objective of the celebration was to create awareness among the students about conservation and protection of the wildlife in general and endangered species in particular.
As part of the celebration, the classes 5 to 10 of IES adopted an endangered animal each. Children devotedly did research work on the animal they had adopted, learned about their habits and habitats and collected information and pictures about them.
Students of Grade 5 introduced tiger as an endangered animal. A short dialogue presentation including the tiger’s habit, habitat and reasons for its diminishing numbers and tiger conservation projects initiated by the government of India were presented by the students during the morning assembly. They made a special bulletin board with pictures and posters urging the onlookers to pledge their devotement to the varied and vibrant wildlife of India.
In similar fashion, penguins, gorillas, rhinos, and sea lions came alive on subsequent days from October 2 to October 4 by grades 6-10.
Along with the eco warriors, Mrs. Meenakshi Nayyar, the vice principal, CCA and the faculty of Science took the lead roles to encourage students to actively participate in the celebration and to make it a grand success.