CHICO — An unlikely guest at the Endangered Species Faire captured the hearts of attendees Saturday.
A baby kangaroo named Clover drew a crowd and applause at an animal show presented by Gabe Kerschner, director of the Placer County-based Conservation Ambassadors’ Wild Things, which cares for the animal. Not an endangered species but also not common in the U.S., the kangaroo appeared with several other rescued animals at City Plaza.
BEC puts on the Endangered Species Faire to celebrate the anniversary of the Endangered Species Act. The event featured a parade of endangered species puppets, live animals and numerous booths offering crafts and environmental education.
Left to right, Jeremy Green, Jenni Green, Rex Green and Jylian Green hold their endangered species puppets at the Endangered Species Faire in Chico, California on Saturday, April 20, 2024. (Molly Myers/Enterprise-Record)
On top of all the festivities the event’s purpose is to educate on “how to live in the in the environment responsibly,” said Patrizia Hironimus, BEC’s executive director.
Before bringing out Clover, the kangaroo, Kerschner made the crowd promise not to say “awww” when they saw her “because I’m sick of hearing it,” Kerschner joked.
As soon as Kerschner brought out Clover, though, the crowd couldn’t help but release a few awwws.
The endangered species parade featured collaborations with Sherwood Montessori, whose students spend two weeks creating papier-mâché animals that are all registered as endangered species.
Jeni Green’s three children — Rex, Jylian and Jeremy — all go to Sherwood Montessori. Their puppets included a hammerhead shark, a sapphire tarantula and a Vaquita, which is a very small dolphin-like mammal very near extinction.
Jeni Green has been coming to the event for eight years and said this year’s seemed bigger than the last.
“It’s something people should see,” she said.
Conservation
The Altacal Audubon Society manned a booth that highlighted the importance of ecosystems and habitats.
“All of these endangered species, they need habitats, they need places to live,” Jared Geiser, the group’s executive director, said. “Unfortunately, we take up those places when we develop land, when we convert habitat to agricultural uses.”
Butte County is home to multiple endangered species including the California condor and fairy shrimp.
Fairy shrimp live in vernal pools, which are depressions in the soil that have a layer of impenetrable earth beneath them that prevent the water from absorbing. These pools create incredibly diverse small ecosystems.
Considering the importance of habitat, Geiser said he is “excited” that Valleys Edge got successfully blocked. Voters overturned city approval of a proposed plan for developing 1,448 acres in southeast Chico.
“The birds will be really happy, ringtail cats will be happy, the vernal pool flowers that are just about extinct will be quite happy, too,” Geiser said.
Despite widespread damage to the environment around the world, Geiser is hopeful.
“We can’t undo everything, but there is habitat restoration that can be done,” Geiser said.
One project underway is the Big Chico Creek Otakim Sewi Fish Passage Collaborative. “Otakim Sewi” is the Northwestern Maidu word for Big Chico Creek. The project will remove a defunct fish ladder in Iron Canyon and create a new natural ladder for the fish to swim up.
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Project proponent Lizeth Martinez tabled the Endangered Species Faire to raise awareness. A big part of the project, which she said is fully funded, is widening the canyon. Martinez said the project will use cranes instead of dynamite; that will be much less invasive to the surroundings.
“The project will leave the environment as natural as possible or better than we found it,” Martinez said.
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