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Tasmania is an island state to the south of the mainland of Australia. We have a population of about 440,000 and the capital city is Hobart, which is even further south than we are. Tasmania is a very beautiful and unspoiled part of Australia, with considerable areas of our lakes and forests protected in the form of reserves. Even so, the Greens political party is continually reminding us of the threat to our forests through the sale of woodchips to other areas. We are very aware of pollution also, having had some bad experiences with a silver-lead-zinc mine, a copper mine, and a paper-pulp factory.
Tasmania is the former home of the probably extinct Tasmanian tiger, the thylacine, which once roamed the island and parts of the mainland as well.
There are reports, from time to time, of sightings of the tiger, but none has been substantiated, as yet. Fortunately, we do still have some areas of forest which are rarely visited .
Our school, Reece High School, has a population of approximately 700, with students aged from 12 to 17. The work the students in my class are submitting, was written by children aged 12-13. We have our own web page at Reece, come visit.
Artwork by Patrick
We began our pieces of work after viewing the films "White Fang", and "White Fang II". The idea of a wild animal such as the wolf, bred with a domestic dog, was interesting, because we have a native dog, named the dingo, much befriended by the indigenous population of Australian Aborigines on the mainland. There has been some argument as to whether the dingo can be safely mixed with the domestic dog, to make a family pet. In general, the opinion is negative.
The class was interested in the fact that the wolf, which has held such a fearsome place in children's stories, is now under threat. The beauty of the Yukon,its climatic extremes, and the gripping story by Jack London, enthused them to take it further.
We devised a Wolf Assignment, for which they would research some facts
about wolves, write letters to the Editor,
for either side of the argument, and write a story
based on the idea of being a small wolf cub, left alone to cope with the
threats of life in the far north.
Let us know what you think of our work. Send e-mail to our teacher, Mrs.
Bienefelt.
Share your work with The Wild Ones!
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The Wild Ones
c/o Wildlife Trust
61 Route 9W, Palisades, NY 10964-8000
Tel: 845.365.8337 Fax: 845.365.8177