Grade five and six students from Wyndham City visited Werribee Open Range Zoo recently as part of the Love Your Locals Program, marking the 10th anniversary of the program which teaches kids about local threatened species and how we can help protect them.
The education program runs in schools throughout the west in partnership with Wyndham, Brimbank, Hobsons Bay City Councils and Werribee Zoo.
Each year Zoos Victoria, in collaboration with Councils, facilitates a learning program about threatened wildlife, with multiple Wyndham schools taking part in the program.
Through the program, students discuss projects that could help threatened wildlife in our region. The program culminates with a visit to Werribee Open Range Zoo where students share their project ideas, get to meet some of the native wildlife they learnt about and help create habitat.
Wyndham City Mayor, Cr Susan McIntyre said the program aligned with National Threatened Species Day which raises awareness of plants and animals at risk of extinction, and National Biodiversity month.
“Students learnt about the Eastern Barred Bandicoot, Orange-bellied parrot and the Plains-wanderer which once lived in abundance throughout the grasslands of Victoria’s Western Volcanic Plains where the participating schools are located,” she said.
“We have some of the most unique and richly diverse ecosystems in the world, with much of Australia’s wildlife found nowhere else on the planet.”
“This has been an amazing program that helps identify the positive actions we can take as individuals and as a community to lessen our environmental impact and reduce threats to endangered species – this can be as simple as ensuring your cat is not roaming at night, picking up litter, or planting a native garden for habitat.”
Schools that participated in the Love Your Locals 2023 program included:
- The Grange P-12 College
- Manor Lakes P12 College
- Point Cook P-9 College
- Cambridge Primary School
- Riverwalk Primary School
- Truganina South Primary School
- Al-Taqua College
- Little River Primary School
- Saltwater Primary School
- Iramoo Primary School
- Werribee Primary School
- Stella Maris Primary School
- Altona Meadows Primary School
- Queen of Peace Parish Primary School
