I was once a FOZ member!!

I was then in grade seven when I first heard about FOZ (Friends of Zoo) membership from our class teacher Mr. Sahay. He had been involving with the only zoo of Nepal, Central Zoo for a while. Our school, Shikhar Boarding High School (Now Omega International School) was in walking distance to Central Zoo. I and several of my friends paid one hundred fifty rupees as a membership fee and we had to pay hundred rupees for renewal of our membership annually.

Central zoo used to organize different awareness programs, competitions (essay,quiz,art etc),night tours, animal feeding programs, animal health checkup programs, bird identification programs, summer day camp, winter day camp and many more for FOZ members. And on June 5 i.e. on World Environment Day, zoo used to organize a march including all members from different schools, local organizations, environmental organizations around Lalitpur city with huge banners and slogans.

 Well!! that used to be quite a day. The march was led by Pawankali, the elephant and is still led by her nowadays as well. June 5 is kind of annual day of Zoo because the winners of different competition are also awarded on that day. The march generally concludes to a huge gathering/conference in Jawalakhel Football Ground.

                          

I had some wonderful time those days. Our school actively participated in the programs organized by the zoo. I attended Solid waste Management program conducted by FOZ as my first participation. Animal feeding programs still strike my mind, the day we wore aprons to prepare food, weigh food and fed animals.Oh!!  and I still remember throwing fishes at the pelicans' mouth. Night tour in zoo was simply awesome.Those boring animals which used to sleep during daytime, sprung into life at night.I bet you have never seen the hyenas which you often see dozing off at noon, literally laughing at night. It was really intriguing when you see clouded leopard growling and porcupines playing with each other and that's the sight we rarely observe during day visit in zoo.The clean up program in Gharial enclosure was one heck of exhilarating experience.Also,I regularly represented my school  in different competitions especially in essay and quiz competition. Honestly, I was not good in quiz contest as I got knocked out twice in first round. However, I secured second position in wildlife essay competition which was about Sarus crane (Grus antigone). For your information, sarus is an endangered bird species and is protected by Nepal Government.It is also the largest flying bird in Nepal.Also, I had a faint glimpse of  sarus in wild during visit to Peace Stupa in Lumbini; it was really a foggy morning. Mr Sahay pushed me really hard for this competition and I didn't disappoint him. I went zoo,collected information about sarus,keenly observed its behavior and took notes from internet as well. Despite of my debut research, I was only able to secure second position.(So sad!!).Anyways, it was really a pleasant moment when I walked to the stage to achieve my award in front of such a huge mass. And it  felt really good and I can still remember the humble grim on the face of Mr.Chandra Man Shakya, our principal.

                                       

In the nutshell, I would like to thank FOZ for triggering my interest in wildlife and its conservation.Their programs have really paved a distinct path in my memory lane and the experiences I have achieved from their programs will certainly guide me in my journey. Finally, I am proud to say that I was once a FOZ member!!