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| Philadelphia Zoo saving endangered orangutans and more. |
Class Contest — Service Learning
Opportunity for your Students
“UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”
— Dr. Seuss, The Lorax
We know you and your students truly care a lot about the future of wildlife and the environment. Now here is your chance to take action by joining the Philadelphia Zoo’s “UNLESS Contest” focused on saving endangered orangutans.
UNLESS Contest Overview
Imagine your students working directly with the Philadelphia Zoo to help save orangutans from
extinction. These amazing apes are found only on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. The conversion of forest for agriculture and the growing threat of palm oil plantations are the most pressing issues facing orangutans today. Orangutans have lost approximately 80% of their habitat in just the last 20 years. There are only about 55,000 orangutans remaining in Borneo and approximately 6,600 left in Sumatra. Experts estimate that orangutans could be extinct in the wild in as few as 25 years.
UNLESS… your students become positive wildlife advocates for change! One of the major issues
for orangutans is deforestation due to palm oil plantations. Palm oil happens to be a product ingredient found in everything from packaged goods to soap and cosmetics. In The Lorax book, “A Thneed’s a Fine-Something-That-All-People-Need.” Palm oil is the present day version of a “Thneed”. Palm oil is in ice cream. It’s in shampoo. It’s in chocolate. It’s in cookies too.
Most people aren’t aware of this, so the simple solution is to become a part of the UNLESS Contest. This K-12 student contest will raise awareness about the connection of palm oil to the survival of orangutans!