The children have had a wonderful day at Yorkshire Wildlife Park today to further develop their knowledge of classification of living things and the impact of humans on the environment. We were very fortunate to see lots of animals as we walked around the park, we even ran out of time to see them all. When visiting the classroom at the education centre, the children talked about endangered species and were educated about the signs around the park showing whether species were of low concern, vulnerable, endangered and then the categories of endangerment. They considered reasons why species were endangered and many were shocked to find out some of the actual reasons for endangerment. 

The children were informed of 'CITES' who regulate an imported, exported or re-exported specimen of endangered animals within Great Britain. The children were shown some 'real life' goods that had been seized. These items included a conch shell, a jacket made of red squirells, an elephants tusk, a crocodile handbag and a leopard skin. The children enjoyed seeing these but spoke about the sad fact about where they had come from, the ethical implications of this and their unhappiness with this contributing to the endangerment of many species.