Dornoch Pupils are top writers in Edinburgh Zoo competition.
Dornoch Academy English students have recently received commendations in the ‘Next 100 Years’ writing competition celebrating the Edinburgh Zoo Centenary.
The competition was about looking to the future and the next 100 years. Entrants were invited to write about what they thought the zoo will be like in 2113? What animals might be there? What will the world be like in 100 years’ time and whether they think the zoo will have saved species and habitats?
Out of over 100 entries from across the country, four S2 Dornoch pupils received commendations for their work; Amber Nicolson, Rosie MacLennan, Tom Lindsay and Robert Messum. Emma Whiteman came second in the overall secondary school category.
The group were invited to the zoo to the awards ceremony and a presentation from Professor Iain Stewart TV presenter of BBC series 'How Earth Made Us' and 'Volcano Live' who judged the entries.
The judges at Edinburgh Zoo were impressed with all the entries from Dornoch Academy and commented on their awareness of conservation and environmental issues which they applied to their work by speculating on the future.
Emma Whiteman’s work was very well received during her reading at the ceremony and she was delighted to win the prize.
Emma wrote in her entry: "...I looked through the laser fence and when I saw what it was, I was surprised because when I last went to Edinburgh Zoo in 2013 they had loads of them. I looked through and saw two small gentoo penguins standing on their own. Damien pointed to a gold plaque. It read ‘Gentoo penguins. Last of their species. Died out completely in the wild because Global Warming destroyed the habitat.’ I was very upset by this, The gentoo penguins, two left...it can’t be. The gentoo penguin was one of the rarest animals in the whole zoo. I could barely take it in."
Receiving a commendation, Tom Lindsay wrote: “In 2008, the BIAZA Awards were given to the Zoo in recognition of its ‘Best New Zoo Enclosure’ which could hold 40 chimpanzees. The enclosure is now named Troglodytes Trail after a chimp’s Latin name, Pan Troglodytes. The enclosure was expanded in 2033 to celebrate Budongo Trail’s 25th anniversary… One of the zoo’s most successful projects is breeding giant pandas. The first two pandas Yang Guang and Tian Tian arrived on Sunday 4th December 2011 on a 10 year loan from China. From 2011 to 2021 the zoo took part in some of the world’s most important research into pandas. For the first 4 years that the pandas were at the zoo they failed to breed but in 2015 a baby panda, Huanle, was born. "
The five pupils who visited the zoo enjoyed the presentation as well as the chance to visit the animals including the pandas.