Children, parents and teachers alike had a wild time at the Estevan Legion, at the Wild Americas show. The event on Tuesday was hosted by Ontario-based wildlife organizations, the Canadian Raptor Conservancy and Ray's Reptile Zoo, and featured an assortment of live animals from North and South America and beyond.
"One of the biggest themes of the wildlife festival is to teach people about the animals not only around the world, but (also) the ones in their backyards," said Matthew Morgan, a wildlife educator and bird handler with the Canadian Raptor Conservancy. "We hope to teach people about the animals, and through that, inspire them to do things in their day-to-day lives to help conservation efforts across Canada."
The audience was introduced to a wide variety of animals: a rose hair tarantula, a reticulated python, a Cuvier's dwarf caiman, a veiled chameleon, an American kestrel, a great horned owl, a red-tailed hawk, and lastly, a red kangaroo.
The birds shown to the audience, in some cases, were allowed to fly freely across the room, perching in different areas, their cries echoing throughout the building. At one point, the kangaroo bounded around the room and out into the lobby, showing an immediate curiosity in his surroundings.
An exciting component of the show was the audience participation. Guests young and old, were encouraged to approach and pet some of the animals. This provided an opportunity to appreciate the spines and scales on the caiman and snake, the bristles of the tarantula, and the soft fur of the kangaroo as he munched on chunk of sweet potato.
Many of the younger people in the audience crowded around the animals and their handlers, eager to pet and interact with all of the animals introduced to them, even if many were a little hesitant, at first, to hold the tarantula or pet the caiman. A class of Grade Primary students from Hillcrest School was full of students sitting in the front row, rushing to be first in line to pet the animals, and listening raptly to the every word of the handlers.
Handlers taught guests an assortment of facts about the animals, discussing the diets, behaviours and statuses of those animals in the wild.
"Kids are our main targets with this show. If we can get them this experience when they're young, it'll stick with them their whole lives. These kinds of things, especially when you're a kid and have a sense of wonder, they stick with you," said Morgan. "But that being said, we also do it for parents, as well. All our parents have these ideas they've learned about animals through the grapevine that don't end up being true. It definitely helps to have parents learn a few things as well, while they're here."
Morgan said creating awareness will go a long way towards helping the 450 different species of animals across Canada that are at risk of extinction.
Morgan explained that the Raptor Conservancy and Reptile Zoo are "two sides of the same coin," with the coin being wildlife education. While the Raptor Conservancy focuses more on animals found in the wild in their presentations, the Reptile Zoo focuses more on educating people on the responsibility and needs associated with of living with adopting animals as pets.
"There's no secret, that reptiles are one of the biggest parts of the pet trade, as it were. The problem with reptiles is that a lot of people feel they don't require a lot of care because they only eat every few days. Most reptiles don't make good pets," cautioned Morgan. "People think they can take care of them, but turtles and tortoises live 50 plus years. A lot of snakes are over 10 feet long, and people don't realize that at the pet store."
Morgan emphasized the concept of responsible pet ownership, doing plenty of research before deciding to make a commitment to an animal.
