The Birds and the Bees: Preventing Local Extinction

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Originally published in TEACH Magazine, May/June 2017 Issue

By Meagan Gillmore

Teaching students about birds and bees is crucial to their survival—and this isn’t a topic only for health class.

Students need to learn how to protect birds and bees from extinction. When most North American children think of endangered species, they often picture majestic animals that often live far away or create stirring footage for documentaries, like pandas, tigers, or polar bears.

While these creatures may help students become interested in their protection, exquisite posters of pandas may not be enough to sustain that passion. This is largely because of geography. Most North American children don’t live near the natural habitat of pandas, tigers, and polar bears. This limits how much direct interaction they can have with them.

“There’s really not a lot that schoolkids in North America can do to help the cause of the white rhino or panda rather than organize a fundraiser and give money to an organization that works with them,” says Randal Heide, the executive director of Wildlife Preservation Canada. The not-for-profit works exclusively in Canada with species facing a critical risk of extinction. It focuses on activities like animal husbandry and releases into the wild. Heide compares the organization to specialist surgeons in the ICU who are called upon when a patient is close to death.

Many of the species that students should be concerned about saving aren’t living in the tundra or munching on bamboo. They fly around local gardens. They feast on common plants. Students may not really like or appreciate them, but they need them. They’re species like birds, bees, and butterflies.

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Meagan Gillmore is a freelance writer in Toronto, ON.

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Meagan Gillmore
Meagan Gillmore
Meagan Gillmore is a freelance writer in Toronto, ON.

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