School workshops on butterflies and livestock protection

There was a lot going on this week within our two projects “Schmetterlingsreich” and “Let’s get wild 2“, which are funded by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Tourism and Regions. School workshops in the primary school in Fusch/Großglocknerstraße were happening. 21 kids from the 1st and 2nd grade learned a lot about the flying beauties from our butterfly expert Otto Feldner. 11 kids from the 4th class were fascinated by the predators bear, lynx, golden jackal and wolf.

The children already knew a lot about butteflies and could even distinguish between butterflies and moths. Otto brought some caterpillars and butterflies for the children to see and touch, e.g. black-veined white (Aporia crataegi) and brimstone butterly (Gonepteryx rhamni). That was the highlight for the children, even if the green excretions of the caterpillars caused quite a few “Iiiiiii”. At the end, the kids could play with puzzles and memories on the different butterfly species. Each child also received a little bag with wildflower seeds to create a butterfly paradise in the garden or on the balcony.

We will see each other again next spring, because in our LIFEApollo2020 project, we will create “Gardens for Apollo” together with the children near the school. In addition, we might do a butterfly excursion somwhere in the valley of Fusch.

The kids in the “Let´s get wild” workshop were enthusiastic about the different perspective on the return of the the large carnivores and the challenges to local farmers that Max Rossberg gave them. They were very interested and even showed us a place outside where one kid had recently observed a lynx. Children were very interested in what farmers can do to protect their livestock against these predators and the immense challenge this poses.

We are looking forward to the next workshops and would also like to thank the class teachers for their great interest and enthusiasm!