Youth for Conservation Forum Off to a Roaring Start

Youth for Conservation Forum (YFCF) is an environmental group with chapters at National Cathedral School, St. Albans, and Georgetown Day School. An NCS alumna founded it with the mission of educating youth about the conservation of biodiversity and raising awareness about the wildlife crisis, with a special focus on preserving the wild tiger.

This summer, WFCF participated locally in a series of exciting events. On July 29, the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute’s Tiger Conservation Partnership and the National Zoo’s Great Cats Exhibit hosted the International Day of the Tiger. There were fun activities at many booths of organizations supporting the wild tiger, such as Global Tiger Initiative (GTI), International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and more. The Global Tiger Initiative hosted YFCF at its booth, and together, we passed out information, chatted with visitors, and helped spot where the tiger was hiding. Everyone got a glimpse of beautiful Kavi, the 11-year-old Sumatran tiger.

This fall, we attended the Autumn Conservation Festival, which is an event hosted by the Smithsonian National Zoo every year on a weekend in October. This year, three YFCF members (juniors Natasha Turkmani, Skye Lovett, and Paydor Liu) were able to attend this wonderful event at a secluded facility at Front Royal, VA. There was a chance to see cranes, black-footed ferrets, red pandas, and more! There was also a vet hospital and even a kids’ area with moon bounces and slides.

The majority of the festival, however, was hosted by a variety of different booths, manned by researchers and zoo volunteers. They spoke passionately about their research, what they do, or about the animals they specialize in. The booths had all types of information, from how earthworms are “exotic” to animal nutrition; there was even a booth for the Global Tiger Initiative (GTI), an organization that supports our YFCF club. The three of us got to learn a lot about animals and conservation and ask many questions. We were also able to attend a kiwi demonstration where we got to see a live kiwi bird up close! The whole event was great, and we had a fantastic time. With our increased knowledge on conservation, and especially on the research being done to save the environment and help endangered animals, we hope to make bigger changes to help our environment and help our club achieve more.

Fun Facts:

• The egg of the kiwi bird weighs about 25% of the mother’s body weight. For a human, the baby’s only about 5% of the mother’s body weight.
• Have you ever wondered how a woodpecker never gets headaches? Its tongue, which is about 4 to 6 inches long, wraps around its skull, making it a shock absorber!
• Ratites are flightless birds (i.e. ostriches, emus, kiwis).

- By Natasha Turkmani '14 and Paydor Liu '14