National Wildlife Refugee week is this week! Unfortunately it is almost over as it runs October 10th to the 16th. This week features special events and festivals that attempt to make an effort for the American society to get in touch with their own wildlife. The system of wildlife refugee was officially establish in 1903. The first wildlife refugee was named by President Theodore Roosevelt. It was tiny Pelican Island which is off of the Florida coast. Now there is more than 550 wildlife refugees and many more protection areas for different types of wildlife. There is at least one in all 50 states of the United States of America. This week provides every American to make an effort to get to know their wildlife as pretty much every refugee is within an hour drive from the major cities in each state.
Opinion: I think this week is great. Although I've never attended it and probably never will I think people who are interested in these types of things definitely should look into it. I feel it would be a great field trip idea too for an environmental science class like ours. If Mrs. Deluca could find where there nearest one is she could use it for future classes.
Questions:
1. Would you like to attend this week?
2.Do you think this week is really necessary?
3. Why do you think this week even exists?
This really is great! I never knew that there were that many wildlife refuges. Knowing that there is at least one in each state really shows that this country is aware of animal protection. I agree that this would make a perfect field trip for environmental science! Here is a great web site that shows the number of refuges in each state and their locations: http://www.fws.gov/refuges/ There is actually one pretty close around here in Philadelphia. The other one is all the way up in Erie. #1. I actually think it would be a nice family trip that would be very similar to a trip to the zoo. #2. This week is very much neccessary. It gives a chance to Americans to become aware of the animals in danger and how their state is helping. #3. As I mentioned in number 3, it exists to make Americans aware of problems going on with these animals.
ReplyDeleteLike our first couple blogs, this one is similarly important because it shows the state of crisis these animals are in and it also tries to get people involved to help these creatures. Personally I think that having 1 refugee in each state is a little weak. I think we could do better and bump it up to 10 or so per state (but then again I don’t know anything about them or the cost it takes to build and sustain them). As we have discussed in our previous blogs, America and its people need to be more aware of these endangered animals’ situations and 550 animal refugees is a step in the right direction. As Jake said, the John Heinz National Wildlife Refugee is only one hour away in Philadelphia and would provide an excellent field trip for our science class (even though we probably won’t end up going). I would’ve liked to attend this week just to see what kind of animals we have here around Pennsylvania that we probably never even knew about. I don’t know if this week is absolutely necessary but I think that it is a really good idea to try to encourage the public to go and explore our wildlife. Lastly I think it exists not only to try and get people to look at some new animals but to also inform more people about the growing crisis in our environment.
ReplyDeleteI honestly have never heard about these wildlife refugees, and I'm very surprised that there are so many! I don't really think I'd visit one of these sites unless it was a field trip, but it would be an interesting topic to research. I also agree that it is a good opportunity for people to get in touch with their environment and wildlife. I do think that the effort on this could increase though, because it could end up really making a difference.
ReplyDeleteI have a few questions about this. 1) Where exactly is the nearest refugee site? I definitely would be a great field trip location. 2) When was the last time a wildlife refugee was created and where? 3) Why is National Wildlife Refugee week only a week long?
I've never heard of this, but I think its a great idea. Even though I'm not vgery focused on wildlife refugees I know alot of people who are and who would love this event. In response to question 2: No I do not think its nessessary. However, I do think that it is a good thing to have. So while it is not nessessary, I think we should keep it becaquse I think a lotof people would really like it, and learn a lot about it. It's a good way to learn about wildlife refugees and have fun while doing it. I for one am glad that we put so much time and effort in helping animals that need our help :-)
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