Happy Birthday, Tobias!
Today marks the first birthday of our new school ‘pet’, Tobias the Cheetah! During the Cape Town CAS week trip in late September, our students had the opportunity to visit Cheetah Outreach’s nature reserve and donated a sum of money to ‘adopt’ an 11-month-old cub in support of the organization’s conservation efforts.
The spontaneous decision to make such a donation was pioneered by Wind Yuen of 12X1, who hoped to use her last CAS week trip as an opportunity to give back to our global community.
“Before Cape Town, if someone were to tell me our school would be adopting a cheetah, I would’ve thought they were kidding, but it all turned out to be true. I think this experience just shows how unpredictable and special CAS week can be.” – Wind Yuen 12X1
Photographer: Rachel Sung 12X1
Rachel Sung, another Year 12 student who visited the South African city, agrees with this sentiment and felt that the adoption added meaning to what she expected to be a purely recreational trip.
” In the past, I’ve always brushed the CAS aspect of CAS week aside and viewed it to be a short holiday. I think adopting Tobias put things into perspective for me and showed it’s more than just a week off school; it’s a valuable opportunity to do something meaningful for others and future generations.” – Rachel Sung, 12X1
As part of the ‘adoption’ agreement, Sha Tin College will be receiving regular updates about Tobias’s health and development as he grows up to become an ambassador for the endangered species. Needless to say, our students are very eager to hear from his caretakers at the Cheetah Outreach in the months to follow.
In addition to being involved in environmental education and cheetah conservation, Cheetah Outreach also participates in the breeding Shepherd dogs in attempt to improve the relationship between farmers and predators on South African farms.
Learn more about the unique conservation methods utilized by the Cheetah Outreach Programme here: http://www.cheetah.co.
Martha Chow, 12X1
