A hands-on animal welfare project for children
The children's zoo at Suncheon Bay National Garden is launching a hands-on education program called "The Keeper's Secret Bag," aimed at promoting animal welfare and ecological literacy among young visitors.
The program lets children make "behavioral enrichment" tools — devices keepers use to reduce animal stress and encourage natural behavior — and then deliver them directly to the animals.
Running from this month through November, the program takes place on the second and fourth Saturday of each month from 10 to 11 a.m., with 10 elementary school students per showing.
Activities are tailored to species familiar to children — including harbor seals, land tortoises and squirrel monkeys — with each session designed around the ecological traits and natural habits of the featured animal so participants can develop an intuitive understanding of how each species lives.
"Children make the enrichment tools alongside a keeper and then give them to the animals, watching how they respond," an official from Suncheon's garden operations division said. "Seeing the animals explore and play with something they built themselves gives children a vivid, up-close understanding of animal behavior and instincts."
parkds@heraldcorp.com
