My dear Tunza Friends,

I am glad to share with you that International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)'s Animal Action Education programme and the UAE Ministry of Education have developed a regional programme titled "Keep them Wild" that will supplement existing courses in UAE schools and that will educate children to raise awareness of risks of keeping exotic pets. "Keep them Wild" will target 35,000 UAE pupils from grade four to five (ages 8 to 11) .

Owning exotic pets not only jeopardises the well-being and preservation of wild animals but also puts human health at risk as these animals can transmit diseases or inflict injuries that can be deadly, specialists reveal.

In the UAE keeping exotic pets such as monkeys, lion cubs and iguanas is not unheard of. In fact the UAE is considered one of the biggest wild animal importers in the Gulf.

According to statistics the UAE legally imported 10,000 Royal Snakes and issued four times the permits issued in other GCC countries to import big cats such as tigers, cheetahs, lions and leopards between 2007 and 2010.However, some people are oblivious to the risks they inflict on their own well-being and health by taking part in this practice. According to International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), diseases transmitted by these animals can, in some cases, be deadly.

People are unaware of the health risks they inflict on themselves by owning such animals. For example reptiles such as iguanas and turtles can cause salmonella. As for apes there is a long list of diseases that can be transmitted to humans, some of which are even deadly.

International statistics show that 90 per cent of reptiles are carriers of the bacterial disease salmonella. The most common disease that can be transmitted from pet monkeys is monkeypox which can be fatal. Even birds can transmit diseases such as bird flu while big cats such as cheetahs, tigers and lion can transmit rabies if a human is bitten.

According to a survey ,there exist 800 websites that sell exotic pets. There are also cheetah breeding centres in the country and some animals can also be obtained through official permits. Nonetheless the problem is not the animals it is human behaviour. IFAW believes that the main motivation for importing exotic pets here are families and children which is why it started this programme.

In cooperation with the educational zone , IFAW will conduct a workshop for teachers in January 2014 to show teachers how the programme can be used in their classes.

"Keep them Wild" is expected to be  implemented by teachers in order to achieve sustainability.

Teacher-led

The programme which will be launched in January will be teacher-led because organisers don't want it to be a one-time event where IFRA comes in and lectures about animal welfare. Instead they want to give teachers the tools to teach students by offering material that can supplement their courses.

Following the workshops, the ministry will distribute educational material which consists of a magazine that includes the lessons, teaching guide, art content and worksheet. This material will act as a supplement to their existing classes.This material will focus on five risks: threats to human health, threats to safety, animal conservation, animal cruelty and non-native invaders.

Ministry of Education believes that if we educate children about the risks of purchasing these animals they will take the knowledge they learn and teach the rest of their families.

My friends -I hope that none of you own a wild pet. If you do , kindly be informed & alarmed about the harmful consequences as mentioned above.
Keep wild animals where they belong to , not at home.