03 Oct 2018 | 04:16am IST
WWF’s wildlife cartoon exhibition narrates tales of tails
Informative wildlife cartoons clubbed with play
activities at the World Wildlife Fund
(WWF) Delhi, are part of an ongoing ‘Toony Tails’ exhibition in New Delhi that
seeks to enthuse and educate children about the wonders of nature and wildlife.
Blending fun and
learning for school-goers, the exhibition displays wildlife cartoons made by
Rohan Chakravarty from Green Humour, a platform that illustrates stories on
wildlife, environment and nature conservation.
The exhibition,
curated and being hosted by WWF Delhi, recreates a jungle atmosphere with
animal calls, mud tracks and tall plants.
The idea was to make
children learn through a humorous way so comics are put up about serious
subjects like wildlife conservation, said WWF spokesperson Payal Narain.
“It is a comical way
of making them understand about sustainable lifestyles,” she added.
The guided exhibition
begins with a walk through a cartoon gallery – illustrating various animal
species and the challenges they face – and is replete with mud tracks, and real
and artificial plants.
An interesting comic
about the massive carbon footprint generated by Indian weddings is also linked
to WWF’s #GiveUp campaign – an initiative to make people give up habits and
practices that are environmentally detrimental, Narain said.
Visitors can also
flip through WWF’s new wildlife comic book ‘The Great Indian Nature Trail with
Uncle Bikky’, which is created in a “giant size with pop-up animals”.
‘Toony Tails’ also
has fun activities like ‘The Uncle Bikky Nature Trail’ – a giant board game
about India’s rich natural heritage.
The exhibition has a
corner for moulding clay into animal excreta to highlight the role it plays in
seed dispersal and providing habitat for insects.
Another corner
engages children in dance, as they groove along a cartoon sloth bear Mahua
Macarena.
“Mahua flower is used
for preparing liquor but sometimes animals consume it accidentally and they get
intoxicated too,” Narain said, adding that children must know all aspects of
wildlife.
A doodle panel also
lets the students draw tigers and other animals, step by step. The walk ends
with ‘Jungle Post’ where students write letters on behalf of animals asking for
help from their human friends.
The walk and activities
are facilitated by volunteers, and have already been attended by schools like
Akshay Pratishthan, and DAV School Paschim Vihar.
As
per WWF, the exhibition that launched informally earlier this month, will run
for next 3-4 months, and will see participation from more school and college
groups. – Agencies