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Overcoming the fear of snakes in the HRC
The Eco-Club students losing their fear of snakes after a special excursion
As a part of the Eco-Club, DAKTARI takes after the 6-week program the students to local species centers or game reserves so the children can have the opportunity to see in person the species they've studied during the past weeks, and further understand the importance of their preservation. During the last weekends, DAKTARI has partnered with the Hoedspruit Reptile Centre to take on an excursion to the 44 Nerang High School students that participated in Eco-Club over the past months. Among these children, Emma Mabilu, showed extraordinary bravery! She did not only touch the Ball Python, she also dared to put the snake around her neck. The interaction with these animals is a very important step in the students' education. It is key that they understand that snakes, which are generally feared and killed in the villages, don’t have any interest in hurting a human. Most of the time, when they have a way to escape, they rapidly will. Frequently, when people get attacked by snakes it is because they try to kill them, and the animal has no other option than to defend itself. There are many horror stories about snakes in the villages, but the aim of this excursion was to make the students understand that snakes are not evil and should be respected, as every other animal, and we are positive with the result of the visit. Even though at the beginning of the outing many of the students were hesitant to get close to the snakes, with the encouragement of the professional handlers and their peers, almost all of the children dared to touch a Ball Python, and of course, to smile for the picture! But the most brave one was Emma. She happily stood still while getting a snake put on her shoulders! We cannot be more proud of our Eco-Club students. We would like to thank the Hoedspruit Reptile Centre for having us. It was a great learning experience for the Eco-Club students, and we hope they will share their knowledge within the village so that both peoples' and snakes' lives can be saved!