How everyday conversations inspire wildlife conservation in China

Her mother paused. “I don’t really understand either.” 

The girl turned back to the elephant and began reading the illustrated story beside the display. As she followed the pictures, she learned that an elephant's tusks do not grow back if they are lost or removed. “That’s not fair,” she said.  

Before leaving, she told her mother she wanted to share what she had learned with a friend who also loved elephants. 

A tiger encounter beyond the zoo 

A few days before World Tiger Day, Ms. Zhong brought her first-grade students to Shanghai Zoo. They had barely reached the tiger enclosure before the questions began. Why do tigers have so many stripes? How much meat do they eat? Can they swim? 

One child watched a tiger move inside. “Does the tiger live here all the time?” he asked. 

Ms. Zhong smiled but didn’t answer at once. She led them to a tiger-themed event supported by IFAW. Inside the science education centre, eight life-size illustrations showed how large tigers can grow. The children stood beside an illustration of an adult Amur tiger, comparing its height with their own. 

Later, on the lawn, they gathered around an ecological jigsaw puzzle. Piece by piece, a larger picture emerged: a tiger, a leopard cat, trees, and forest. As they searched for the final pieces, one child pointed excitedly. “Ms. Zhong, look. The tiger lives here, and the leopard cat lives here too.” 

She asked what might happen if some trees disappeared, or if the forest were gone altogether. The children recognised that both the tiger and the leopard cat depended on the forest for their survival. “So, if we want to protect them,” Ms. Zhong asked, “what else do we need to protect?” 

One ivory product and everything behind it 

For years, Huang, a volunteer at Guangzhou Zoo, has stood beside the elephant enclosure, talking with visitors. He knows the animals well and is used to children’s questions: How much does an elephant eat? Why does it drink with its trunk? Can it recognise its friends? 

For Huang, these conversations are an opportunity to build on visitors' curiosity and help them understand more about the animals they encounter. When IFAW came to train the zoo’s volunteer guides, Huang saw a chance to take his role further. The training helped him see elephants from a conservation perspective. Tusks, he learned, are not just ivory waiting to be made into an object; they are part of the elephant. But because of ivory, elephants become targets for poachers. The story reaches beyond the animal itself—to the trade and demand that turn part of a living animal into a product. 

The training also connected this to a wider chain. Illegal ivory trafficking can fuel organised crime while putting elephants, wildlife rangers, and local communities at risk. Huang thought of a friend working in Africa. He had once felt the wildlife trade was far away from him. Now he understood that demand for ivory could have consequences far beyond the people buying and selling it. The day after the training, Huang brought this story into his guided tour. He still starts with animal behaviour and characteristics, but now he takes the conversation further. He helps visitors trace the connection between ivory products, consumer demand, and the poaching of elephants in the wild. 

By helping visitors understand where ivory comes from, Huang encourages them to consider how their choices can help protect elephants. 

It starts with a question 

The first step in conservation education is often simple: noticing an animal. In zoos and museums, visitors encounter not only individual animals but glimpses of the wider systems they belong to. A child wonders why anyone would want an elephant’s teeth. Children piecing together a forest realise a tiger does not exist on its own. A volunteer learns to help others look beyond what they see. 

These partnerships help visitors understand the connections between individual animals, their habitats, and the wider ecosystems they depend on. From elephants and tigers to pangolins and birds of prey, the activities encourage people to look beyond the animals they encounter and consider the threats facing wildlife in the wild. 

A training session may last only a few hours, but its effects can travel much further. By equipping volunteers—not just informing them—we help them carry conservation messages into their own tours and conversations. With the knowledge and confidence to lead these conversations themselves, volunteers can reach more visitors and encourage them to share what they learn with others. 

These partnerships show how conservation education can extend beyond a single event. When children share what they learn and volunteers bring new knowledge into their conversations with visitors, more people have an opportunity to understand the threats facing wildlife and the actions they can take to help protect it.