Author: David Di Paolo (Mulhouse Zoo, France)
On 17th and 24th of June, the Silent Forest days took place in Mulhouse zoo.
How can we draw our visitors’ intention on Songbirds? That’s not so easy: birds are shy and sometimes hide when people come in their aviary… Thus we played birdcall recordings in our aviary to lure our Sumatran laughingtrush and Bali myna closer and make them sing!
Once close enough to observe them, people were more curious and receptive about what we had to share: the Sonbirds’ biology, their fate in the wild, how EAZA and its Members help to protect these animals and fight poaching etc.
Adults were invited to watch three videos talking about the Songbird crisis and deforestation, while kids participated to games on the same subject, bird origami workshops, colouring pictures or puzzles.
Discussions were extended from the Silent Forest campaign aims to local passerines, which are traditionally poached in some French areas and are confronted with environmental destruction in all Europe. Many visitors even asked how they could help passerines to live in their garden, giving us the opportunity to make a bound between the Silent forest and Let it grow campaigns!
We were very excited to highlight the unknown Songbirds for this campaign! These days also gave us the opportunity to bring up many different conservation subjects and fulfil an important mission of zoos!