Over 1,000 students take part in elephant conservation walk in Vizag
Hundreds of school children from across the city took part in a mass awareness march on Beach Road on Sunday, organised as part of World
Hundreds of school children from across the city took part in a mass awareness march on Beach Road on Sunday, organised as part of World Elephant Day 2026, observed globally on August 12. The march, from Kali Mata Temple to the YMCA, was organised by Visakha Valley School in collaboration with the Museum of Natural History (NMNH) and the Andhra Pradesh Forest Department, under the aegis of the Project Elephant cell of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
Officials present included Naaz Rizvi, Director, NMNH; I.K.V. Raju, Chief Conservator of Forests; Ravindra Dhama, Divisional Forest Officer; G. Mangamma, Curator, Zoo; and C.R. Magesh, Scientist D. “Over 1,000 children representing all boards, including CBSE, State Board, government, private and boarding schools participated in the programme,” said Eshwari Prabhakar, principal, Visakha Valley School. The objective was to instil conservation awareness among children early, so that “it can get imbibed in their minds and leave a lifelong impression,” she added and thanked the police for traffic management and the District administration for permission to hold the march.
Ahead of the walk, a painting competition on the theme “Elephants and Traditional Knowledge: Celebrating Cultural Heritage” was held at Visakha Valley School on Saturday, in which 400 students from 300 schools took part, in the junior (classes 6-8) and senior (classes 9-12) categories. The event was inaugurated by Naaz Rizvi, Director, NMNH in the presence of other officials. Winners will be felicitated at a function on August 13. Students staged a street play on elephant conservation.
“It was about spreading awareness about protecting elephants who are in danger,” said Sejal and Sanvi, Grade IX students from Visakha Valley School. All participating schools administered a five-point pledge to protect elephants and wildlife over the preceding ten days.
The BriefWire