Conservation Education for Schoolchildren and Adults in Zambia

The support and action of local communities is a critical component of any conservation program. In 2004, the African Wild Dog Research Team, headed by Dr. Anne Carlson, a Conservation Research Fellow for the San Diego Zoo's CRES, expanded their outreach and education program in Zambia.

Many children living in African countries have never seen a large carnivore in its natural habitat and consequently know very little about the lions, spotted hyenas, African wild dogs (pictured), leopards, and cheetahs living in their own country. The African Wild Dog Research Team is based in Kafue National Park, Zambia, and has been strongly committed to working with the local communities to preserve their natural habitat and understand the role of conservation. The Team's educational program has two key components: Lessons about conservation and research techniques for schoolchildren from Zambia's capital, Lusaka, and educational outreach programs for adults in the rural communities that border Kafue National Park.

The Team's work with schoolchildren began in 2004 and occurs inside the Park at an educational center named Treetops Educational Camp. Students ages 9 to 15, from eight different schools in Lusaka, travel to Treetops for weeklong visits between July and October each year. The Team spends one day per week with each class that visits, talking about the African wild dog during slideshow presentations while explaining why it is so highly endangered today. The students learn to use some of the research techniques adopted for the conservation work. For example, photographs are used to teach students how they can identify individual African wild dogs and lions using the distinctive traits of each animal. Radio collars are hidden in trees and bushes; the students learn how radio collars work and then confront the challenge of venturing forth in small groups to track and locate each radio collar.