african python

Our trip to La Vista was incredible! ES Animarvelous, MS and HS students, parents and teachers arrived at the La Vista Center in Laguna just after 9am on Saturday. We were instantly attracted to the bearcats and surrounded them with our wonder and cameras. After touring the grounds, Dr Donato arrived with the rest of the My Zoo Volunteers. We were grouped into 3 teams to 1) clear the future bearcat enclosure 2) cut fruits and vegetables to feed the monkeys, birds, turtles and bearcats 3) do landscaping and cleaning.

We were so overwhelmed by the presence of all the animals that it was hard to concentrate on our “jobs”, but we tried our best. Two pet cockatoos were visiting the center with their owner. Many of us took turns to carry them around on our arms and heads. We also became good friends with a pet gibbon. He generously allowed us to play with him, hug him and feed him. Some of us also walked around with a baby African python (not poisonous). 

We ended our wonderful day at the center with joining Teresa’s birthday party (7 years old) who visited the center with her family. The bearcat enclosure is now 50% done and soon the caged bearcats will be moved to the enclosure where they will have more space with their families. 

It was a perfect way to end the school year. See our photos. 

Thanks to everyone! 

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An adult bearcat ~ google images

ES Animarvelous, MS and HS students will assist in building a bearcat enclosure for 15 bearcats in Laguna this May.

Yesterday, we had a quick “sweets and treats” sale to raise more money for this project. We made 3 000 pesos for the bearcats in only 45 minutes!

Thanks for your support!

Everyday, the PARC Staff takes good care of all the dogs and cats. They feed them and clean up after them. To them we gave a GRATITUDE MOBILE to hang in the office with thank you messages for everything they do.

First, Ms. Cabrera showed and told us about the newly admitted shelter dogs and cats. We spent the rest of our short morning walking the dogs and “socializing” with the cats in the cattery.  We also made lots of cat toys.

Thanks to the PARC Staff that always welcome our visits.  Here are some photos from the day. ENJOY!

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Bake Sale ~ March 4

Do animals need us? (Irene)

Do we need animals? (Layla)

Is it fine to buy pets from a pet store? (Angelica)

Is it fine to keep animals caged or chained? (Liz)

Do we need to treat animals the way we want to be treated? (Nicole)

Can we live without animals? (Nanami)

How do animals communicate with us? (Seo Young)

How do you treat animals? (Ines)

What do you think about animals? (Nana)

Which are more harmful, TIGERS or HUMANS? (Ruchira)

Monkey ~ Grade 4 Art, 0910

You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.

~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Every man and living creature has the sacred right to the gladness of spring.

~ Leo Tolstoy

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1) Do people only take lions from their natural habitat or also other animals? Could you name a few?

2) Does our natural environment need all the animal species to succeed? What happens to the systems in nature when an animal specie disappears forever?

Grade 4 Art 0910

Although most wild animals are born free (on land and in the ocean), they don’t always stay free to live their lives in their natural habitats.

Each year, countless animals are taken from the wild and end up at the mercy of people who use them for different reasons. Not all wild animals are born free. Many wild animals are often born in captivity. This means that their parents or their parents’ parents were taken from the wild or their natural habitat.

These wild animals end up in zoos, circuses and other animal shows. Many of them end up us “products” in the illegal wildlife trade. Yes, even endangered species!

There is also good news. There are organizations and foundations (like the Born Free Foundation) that work hard to rescue wild animals from their captive circumstances. These people do their best to return these animals to the wild where they could live freely. Animal sanctuaries and protected areas become the animals’ new home to protect him/her from human harm. Read the following story about Christian the Lion. Christian’s parents spent their lives in a zoo, but Christian was given a chance to live freely.

In 1969 a young Australian, John Rendall and his friend Ace Bourke, bought a small lion cub from Harrods pet department, which was then legal. ‘Christian’ was kept in the basement of a furniture shop on the Kings Road in Chelsea, the heart of the swinging sixties.

Loved by all, the affectionate cub ate in a local restaurant, played in a nearby graveyard, but was growing fast… A chance encounter with Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna led to a new life for Christian. He came to live in a huge enclosure and to sleep in a caravan at their Surrey home.

Then in 1971 he was flown to Kenya, his ancestral home, and returned to the wild by lion-man George Adamson. Nine months later in 1972, John and Ace returned to Kora in Kenya. This clip is of their reunion at that time. It was an emotional reunion: “He ran towards us, threw himself onto us, knocked us over and hugged us, with his paws on our shoulders.” ~ John Rendall

Source: Born Free Foundation

1) What does it mean to live your life freely?

2) How does Christian’s behavior in the wild compare to his parents’ behavior in a zoo?

3) Complete the following sentence with your thoughts: Wild animals . . .