The Victoria Falls Wildlife Trust, a trust of which Wild Horizons is one
of the founders and main sponsors, endeavours to educate the local community
about wildlife conservation. One of the ways VFWT do this, is by having at
least two, week-long, courses annually for children who are interested in
wildlife and natural resource conservation. During the school holidays VFWT
holds each course, which takes up to 20 participants. One course is for primary school children and the other is
aimed for high school/senior school students. The participants are selected
based on their interest and performance during the weekly interaction and
awareness activity VFWT holds every Friday.
The courses are provided through generous donor funding and are full
scholarship to every participant, including room and board. Throughout the courses, experts in
their respective fields are brought in to discuss and present some of their
findings and the impact on conservation given their field of experience.
I was privileged to attend a VFWT awareness activity that takes place on
a Friday, with a presentation about general wildlife conservation, and
interaction with the Wild Horizons elephant and Sylvester cheetah ambassador.
Here, kids from a local school, could safely interact with the animals and learn
more about them and nature conservation. It was truly heart-warming to see the kids
interact with the animals.
The children were also enthusiastically participating in presentations
about the animals and wildlife conservation in the Vic Falls area. The kids
also shared and discussed how they interact with wild animals on a daily basis,
and how they deal with human-wildlife conflict, after which, they are taught
how to safely deal with human-wildlife conflict (avoid the animal, and don’t
antagonise it). They also learn more about the specific animals that they
interacted with, like the cheetah, and for instance how to tell the difference
between a cheetah and a leopard.
This is definitely a great initiative from the Victoria Falls Wildlife
Trust, to include local school children in the surrounding wildlife
conservation efforts and to introduce them to great career opportunities within
wildlife and nature conservation. What an unforgettable morning! Fun was had by all!
