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Seminars in 2007

"Meeting the bear"

In the wonderful surroundings of Malá Fatra we successfully presented the exhibition "Meeting the Bear" on Wednesday 19th September 2007. Children and teachers from the local primary school came to Chata Žiar in Rajecká Lesná, combining a trip out with a presentation about bears. All together there were about 140 children in two groups: first to fourth year pupils in one group and the second level in the second group. We prepared the film "Staying safe in bear country" for them along with commentary, questions, discussion and sharing our experiences.

The best listeners and also the most active were the little ones. Even after time had run out they still had heaps of questions and their own observations to share with us. We gave them each a postcard and rewarded correct answers to our questions with some stickers of bears. We most enjoyed the question of one little boy who wanted to know if a she-bear could have a heart attack from the shock of meeting a person.

The older group knew a little more about bears and it was clear that some of them were obviously interested in the subject, but we found that some false myths still persist, such as whether bears can run up or down hill. Also most of them answered a question about what bears eat by mentioning meat or sheep, which shows there are still insufficiencies in knowledge and the media obviously has a strong influence on public opinion.

For help in spreading education and for the kind welcome we thank the staff of Chata Žiar as well as Marek Kubinec for organising these presentations and also the sponsor, the Kofola company. We hope that the kids took away not just souvenirs but also some useful information.

"In the Tracks of Predators"

The latest of our "In the tracks of predators" seminars was held in Nitra, western Slovakia, on 21st March 2007. Teachers and pupils had the chance to receive up to date information on bears and wolves in Slovakia and elsewhere. They watched the film "Staying safe in bear country", saw and tried out a range of education materials about wolves and bears and had the chance to buy them. The event was attended by a total of 23 participants, including staff from 17 different education institutes in the area. For their help in organising and hosting this highly successful seminar we would like to thank Ing. Katarína Beresová of the Slovak Environmental Agency in Nitra and Bc. Magda Radecká of the County Education Centre in Nitra.


For more details of our seminars, field trips and other offers for pupils and teachers click here or write to betkova@slovakwildlife.org