Plainsboro elementary school ‘adopt’ Siberian tiger.
By: Gwen Runkle
PLAINSBORO Forget hamsters, gerbils or the usual aquarium of turtles. Twenty-five fifth-grade students at the Upper Elementary School have picked out a bigger and better classroom pet a Siberian tiger.
As part of a year-long project on endangered animals, teacher Ronni Epstein and her class adopted a 6-year-old female Siberian tiger named Nellie through Healthy Planet, an environmental organization working in cooperation with the Siberian Tiger Project of the Hornocker Wildlife Institute in Montana.
According to Healthy Planet literature, there are fewer than 500 Siberian tigers left in the wild, primarily in Russia. Siberian tigers, the largest cats in the world, used to roam freely across Russia, the Koreas and China but poaching, logging and the Asian medicine market have pushed them to the brink of extinction, according to Healthy Planet.
And as Ms. Epstein’s students await a picture of Nellie, an adoption certificate and monthly newsletter for updates on her progress in Siberia, Ms. Epstein invited Karen Yarchinski, a veterinary technician at the Safari Park at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, to speak to the class about Siberian tigers Friday.
"I saw an article about a Siberian tiger cub at the Safari and how Ms. Yarchinski was taking him home and bottle-feeding him and I thought she’d make an excellent speaker so I called her up," Ms. Epstein said.
Ms. Yarchinski has worked at Safari Park for 28 years. When not working with tigers, she has dealt with giraffes, elephants, rhinos, "basically you could say animals from all the seven continents," she said.
Rocky, the tiger cub she is taking care of, was rejected by his mother and is now 7 months old. He has appeared with her on a variety of television programs, including National Geographic Today, CNN and the Today Show on NBC.
While Rocky did not make a personal appearance at the Upper Elementary School, Ms. Yarchinski did bring photos of the young tiger to accompany her fact-filled presentation, which was attended by three fifth-grade classes Ms. Epstein’s, Mickey Mear’s and Helen Chang’s.
After learning about Rocky’s genealogy, how zoos breed tigers and what it takes to feed and care for tigers in captivity, several excited students peppered Ms. Yarchinski with questions, mainly focusing on Rocky’s future.
Ms. Yarchinski explained that once Rocky is old enough, he is going to be transferred to an exhibit in Cape May where he will be "a regular king of the place," she said.
And when it came to their tiger, Nellie, the kids were equally excited, as their donations to Healthy Planet are helping pay for her care.
"It feels good to save an animal, especially when it is endangered," said 10-year-old Diana Zhu.
Ensign Kaul, 10, agreed. "It’s a privilege to learn about a Siberian tiger, to find out where it lives and to help it," Ensign said.
Christina Dunne, 10, was excited to be learning not only about Siberian tigers but about endangered animals in general.
"I am really an animal lover," she said. "To me it feels special to know that we are increasing public awareness and that it might possibly help all endangered animals from becoming extinct."
Ms. Epstein’s class is expected to take a field trip in May to the Safari Park at Six Flags Great Adventure to learn more about endangered species there as well.
Ms. Epstein has been with the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District for six years and has taught fifth grade for three. Her first fifth-grade class adopted a humpback whale and last year her class adopted a manatee.