Wild for animals

The life of a duck isn’t as leisurely as you might think. That much is becoming apparent to the Safari Cadets, a dozen children participating in an animal education program offered weekly at the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park in Escondido.

Hunched over a table on a patio overlooking the Nairobi Village Lagoon, three cadets are engaged in a board game that underscores the perils of migration. The object is to guide your flock to a warmer climate while minimizing casualties caused by natural and man-made hazards, including power lines, hunters and severe storms.

“We keep losing birds,” says Matthew Swiersz, die in hand, face crunched into a bemused smile.

Hearing this, Andy Schucker, the Cadets’ guide, leans over the table. “So, what is that telling you, Matthew?” he asks. “Is it telling you it’s easy to be a duck?”

“No,” Swiersz says.

“That’s right,” Schucker says. “There are a lot of problems out there. It’s rough being a wetlands bird.”

Begun more than three years ago, the Safari Cadets were created to give children ages 7 to 10 a greater appreciation for wildlife and their habitats by simulating trainer duties at the 1,800-acre park, home to more than 3,500 animals. The park offers similar programs to kids ages 4-6 (Kindersafari) and ages 11-13 (Safari Explorers).

Safari Cadets’ theme changes every month, each mapped out by Schucker, a part-time FAA flight instructor who dumped his high-stress career as an insurance investigator more than three years ago after discovering during a summer job at the Wild Animal Park that he had both an affinity and an affection for working with kids. In February, cadets will study how animals use their eyes, and the March program will focus on the job of a veterinarian.

On this morning, the 2 1/2-hour tour starts with a short briefing from Schucker on wetlands, then moves into the park, where the kids are told that flamingos stand on one foot because it keeps them warm. The pace is brisk. Within an hour, cadets have gotten a close look at a flamingo’s skull, learned that pelicans weigh only 2 1/2 to 4 1/2 pounds, petted a 3-year-old opossum named Daisy and fed the ducks.

Even snack time is a vehicle for education. As the kids munch brownies, Schucker asks if they think opossums would enjoy the same treat. A few shake their heads but are soon informed that opossums are omnivores, meaning they would indeed eat brownies -- and hamburgers and pepperoni pizza, too.

About half the kids in this group have been on “safari” before. One of the attractions that brings them back, Schucker says, is the enrichment activity, where they make things to give animals that prompt a natural behavior. It might be preparing a snack or constructing a toy or pruning branches for nesting material. It might be nothing more than serving up a healthy pile of elephant dung, which is a big hit with the lions, who enjoy rolling in it to disguise their scent.

“I like the gross stuff,” says Samantha Runnels, an 8-year-old from Escondido who’s a longtime Safari Cadet. She hopes to be an animal trainer someday, and her father, Damon, says the program has boosted her enthusiasm.

“She’s learned a lot that you don’t learn in school,” he says. “The instructors here really relate to the kids, and they teach. They don’t talk to them as if they’re small children.”

For Taylor Lawson, a 9-year-old back for his third visit, it’s well worth the 90-minute trip from his family home in Ontario.

“The first one he went to, they learned about cheetahs,” says his mom, Pam Lawson. “He was talking about cheetahs for weeks after that.”

In recent years, Schucker has noticed that kids are becoming increasingly conversant on the subject of animals and their surroundings. He attributes that to an increased flow of information, saying that children sponge up facts from cable channels such as Animal Planet and the National Geographic Channel.

“Hopefully, our program is a key part of that,” he says. “We can give them the hands-on, close-up experience that they can’t get from anything else.”

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Wild animal adventures

What: Safari Cadets, an interactive animal education program for children ages 7-10

Where: San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park, 15500 San Pasqual Valley Road, Escondido

When: Varies each month.

Price: members, $24; nonmembers, $24 plus park admission ($19.50)

Info: Dates and times can be found at www.wildanimalpark.org. For info on Wild Animal Park classes, call (760) 738-5057. To receive an information catalog, send a fax to (760) 740-9383. General info on the Wild Animal Park: (760) 747-8702.