Wildlife Club brings environmental education to campus

Lemurs, kangaroos and capuchins, oh my. This isn't a line from a children's tale. It's a scene from a Wildlife Club meeting at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Wildlife Club, which has its roots in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, aims to educate its members on all aspects of wildlife, including conservation biology, wildlife management, zoo animal care and law enforcement.

"Wildlife is an integral part of our natural resources," said Amber Fandrich, a senior fisheries and wildlife major. "We need to understand its importance intrinsically and economically."

To this end, the wildlife club has brought in speakers to provide its members with hands-on experience. Wildlife Encounters, a Gretna, Neb.-based organization, visited the wildlife club, bringing with it lemurs, kinkajous, foxes and owls for the students.

"Holding a lemur in your hands and having it jump all over your face is a pretty awesome opportunity," Fandrich said. "It gets people to really care about the animal because you hear about it and you learn about it, but when you get to interact one-on-one with this animal, it's really awe-inspiring."

Students regularly collaborate with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and the United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services, providing students with the opportunity to assist with deer checks during hunting season and test for diseases such as tularemia and plague in coyotes. Kelly Herlacher, a senior fisheries and wildlife major, emphasized the value of this networking.

"You get to meet people and make connections inside the club," Herlacher said. "I got a job through the Iowa Department of Natural Resources as a water patrol officer. It helped me know I am in the right major."

These connections to the professional wildlife community paid off when the club was asked to help perform an autopsy on an alligator.

"How many people can say they got to open up an alligator?" Herlacher said. "You never get to do that, even in class."

While it enlists the help of outside organizations to educate themselves about wildlife, club members also give back by organizing educational expositions, Fandrich said. This week, the club will travel to Ponca State Park to teach kids about radio telemetry, a method of surveying for animals using radio collars. They also organize a dove hunt for children.

"Kids really need an education of the natural world because they spend so much time indoors playing video games or watching TV," Fandrich said. "So when they get outdoors and they see what we have to show them, you can see the fascination on their faces because they aren't exposed to that normally."

Next weekend, the club will leave on its annual canoe trip down the Niobrara River before resuming its twice-monthly meetings.

amymcconnell@

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