A fierce morning at Seren House Cottage School
MALANSHOF – Seren House Cottage School played host Yeats the cheetah.
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MALANSHOF – What has semi-retractable claws, black spots, is said to reach speeds of 110km/h in just over three seconds, and left the children of Seren House Cottage School completely enchanted by its sheer presence? Yeats the cheetah, of course.
Yeats was born about nine years ago and is said to be an amazing, patient cheetah with a great personality. He has been visiting schools since 2012 and has taken over the role as the main schoolgoing ambassador. The Ann van Dyk Cheetah Centre visited the school with their very captivating ambassador and boy was it a complete thrill for the children.
Before they met Yeats, they diligently sat through an educational presentation set by the centre who travelled from Brits to spend an enlightening, fun and educational morning with them.
The children were all for it and showed how engaged and interested they were in learning as they answered various questions and posed some interesting questions too.
The children’s knowledge of the different types of cats you can find in the wild would have silenced any animal expert, in fact, dare one say, the centre’s representatives were stunned by the level of knowledge the children had about cheetahs.
Even with what they already knew about the big cat, it was important to emphasise the importance of conservation and looking after our environment. Sadly, even though the cheetah is the world’s fastest land animal, it could not run away fast enough from being on the endangered species list. A fact that could have easily been avoided if better conservation choices were made by people.
The only aspect of the morning that might have left the children wanting, was the fact that they could not touch Yeats. This was, of course, for their own safety which they understood and revelled in the fact that they got to see a cheetah in their classroom.
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