The Cape of Good Hope SPCA is spreading its message of urgent species conservation across the generations.
This October (in celebration of World Animal Day on October 4th), the Cape of Good Hope SPCA is sharing the message of urgent and sustainable wildlife conservation by delivering insightful talks that span the generations of Cape Town’s wildlife lovers.
From youth camps to retirement villages, the Cape of Good Hope’s SPCA Wildlife Department believes that wildlife conservation is a topic of relevance to all South Africans regardless of background, age or gender.
SPCA Wildlife Department officer Jon Friedman, together with his colleagues from the hard-working wildlife department that responds to an average of 330 wildlife-related emergencies a month, is speaking to audiences about all the wonderful wildlife we share our homes and natural spaces with and most importantly what they can do to help.
Friedman, a former conservation journalist who has made it his life’s work spreading the message of species conservation to a broader public audience, believes that one is never too young or too old to start caring because “what happens to our environment ultimately affects what happens to us,” he says.
Road Show
The Wildlife Department started its “road show” of wildlife talks by putting together a presentation for the wonderful crowd at the PlumRus Home for the elderly in the Constantia Valley, who then requested that this be a monthly event with different topics on wildlife and conservation being presented to their residents.
Next up was a special talk delivered to a group of enthusiastic grade 4 learners from the Chacma Champions holiday camp about why the need to respect wildlife and what to do if encountering an injured animal in the wild.
“It was encouraging to see just how much animal knowledge these kids already had before we even said a word!” commented SPCA trainee inspector Bryan Arendse who spoke to the kids about domestic animals and why we need to look after them too.
“In this era of great disconnectivity with nature due to the ever-on presence of devices and technology in our lives, just getting to talk face-to-face about and thinking about nature, for even just a few minutes a day, is becoming so very important,” believes Jon.
The SPCA doesn’t charge anything to give its talks but relies on voluntary donations.
“The community at the retirement home put together a parcel of dog and cat food for our animals in the pound and also raised a bit of money for the cause, so that was wonderful!”
“Chatting to both audiences really opened our eyes as to just how eager Capetonians of all ages are to engage with the topic of wildlife conservation,” commented Jon.
