Last month, we spotlighted young Teylana Jenkins, a conservation advocate and one of the youngest donors we’ve ever come across. To say we were excited to see such passion in the up and coming generation is a tremendous understatement. As excited as we were about Teylana, we knew she couldn’t be the only one of her kind and amazingly, before we even published her story, another equally impressive young cheetah conservationist arrived on our doorstep.

In this months issue, we’d like to spotlight Mercedie, who came to Safari West with her family in late December. Like Teylana, young Mercedie is a cheetah fanatic and huge conservation advocate. Her love of cheetahs developed when she was only three years old and has grown with each passing year. A few years back, she came to Safari West and met Cheetah Conservation Fund founder and executive director, Dr. Laurie Marker. Around this same time, she began fundraising for cheetah conservation.

When Mercedie came to Safari West for this recent visit, she and her cousin A.J. experienced one of our Fast Cat Alley tours and got up close and personal with our cheetahs. With a huge grin on her face, Mercedie also presented a sizable donation to Megan and Marie of our Carnivore Department. The money she collected went by way of the Wildlife Conservation Network to Rebecca Klein at Cheetah Conservation Botswana.

Now, We here at Safari West applaud any young conservationist. In a world of diminishing ecosystems and increasingly endangered wildlife, the dedication of today’s youth is perhaps our greatest source of hope. We love to hear about the kids who aren’t waiting until adulthood to get to work; the kids who are making strides here and now toward saving what can’t wait to be saved. In addition, it goes without saying that underfunded conservation organizations around the world are ecstatic about every dollar they receive. All that aside, Mercedie is doing something beyond fundraising that has us truly excited.

Mercedie and her school friends have established a “Kitty Club”. No mere fan club, the terms of admission to Kitty Club include require researching a cat of your choice and presenting a poster or paper to the club membership. Mercedie and her club mates make and sell crafts to raise money. The funding Kitty Club brings in goes to the Barry R. Kirschner Wildlife Sanctuary in her hometown of Chico. More important than the fundraising here is the emphasis on education and research. These kids aren’t just trying to save something they find cute, they’re working to save something they understand. Responsibility, initiative, curiosity; these are traits that should be encouraged in all kids, but they are especially valuable in the world of conservation.

Thank you Mercedie, as partners in your work, we appreciate what you are doing and are truly excited to hear what projects you take on next.

At Safari West, it is our hope that we’ll continue to see this kind of commitment and dedication to conservation from the up and coming generation and if the visitors we’ve had in the last few months are any indicator, we surely will. If you or a youngster you know are die-hard rhino advocates, focused lemur-conservationists, or planet-savers of any type, send your story along to jpaddock@safariwest.com. We love hearing from you and are always on the lookout for another amazing story to spotlight!