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East Africa Wildlife Eco-Tour

Date & Time
13 - 26 July, 2019
Venue
East Africa

East Africa Wildlife Eco-Tour 東非野生考察團 (July 2019)

Group photo of the Eco-Tour

 

To celebrate its Oak Anniversary, a knowledge exchange East Africa Wildlife Eco-Tour was co-presented by Faculty of Science, The University of Hong Kong (HKU) and HKU Foundation in July 2019. 15 students from the Faculty had taken the role as eco-leaders and paired up with 17 HKU alumni and HKU Foundation Members in this wildlife Eco-Tour. The Eco-Tour was led by Dr Billy Hau from School of Biological Sciences. Participants had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness the Great Migration in Kenya, as well as other breathtaking views of Mount Kilimanjaro in Amboseli and more. Apart from pure admiration of the fascinating nature, the Eco-Tour also aimed at bringing out the important message of nature conversation. You may visit the Eco-Tour website for the full collection of the gorgeous photos. An exhibition about the Eco-Tour is also held at HKU campus, showcasing the stunning scenery and the wonder of nature.

Display period: September 24 to October 4, 2019
Venue: Foyer of Chi Wah Learning Commons, Centennial Campus, The University of Hong Kong

The 13-day Eco-Tour brought the participants away from the urban city life and led them to the world of gorgeous nature. Participants saw more than 330 species of birds, 60 species of mammals and 15 species of reptiles and amphibians; they witnessed large herd of elephants up close at Amboseli National Park, or simply relaxed in the balcony near the Mount Kenya National Park, overlooking the well-lit waterhole and saltlick as the animals came to drink water. During the Eco-Tour, participants immersed themselves into the wonderful scenery and plenty of biodiversity at Samburu Game Reserve, Maasai Mara National Reserve, Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Lake Naivasha and Lake Nakuru National Park. HKU Science students were the eco-leaders and personal eco-guides of alumni and HKU Foundation Members who supported the students’ participation on this meaningful learning journey.

The students were selected based on careful screening and had underwent six-month Eco-leader Training Programme before the Eco-Tour. Expert guide of the Eco-Tour Dr Billy Hau, a terrestrial ecologist and conservationist, initiated the idea of student eco-leaders; he committed to cultivating new generations of dedicated, professional and pragmatic young conservationists for Hong Kong and the world; Dr Hau elaborated that “the key to realise this was to nurture young students’ love of nature by providing them with immersive experiential learning opportunities in global biodiversity hotspots and educate them on the spots”.

Indeed, it was a truly inspirational experience for student eco-leaders to not just witness the amazing nature, they were all inspired to re-think the relations between human and nature, even the impact of eco-tourism on wildlife animals. Many of them were motivated to pursue this academic field and devote to conserve nature after the tour. “I am glad to see the alumni and Foundation Members enjoy watching the animals. I hope to use the knowledge to conserve nature, letting more people get to know our beautiful planet and thus care about it, this is also a great motivation for me to continue my pursue in Biology” said Mr David Chan (MPhil Year 1 student). Another student Ms Jade Lam (MSc Year 1 student) also expressed that “humans are not the master of nature, and we should pay our respects and be humble to nature and all animals.”

Apart from nurturing future conservationists, the Eco-Tour was organised to raise the awareness of the participants to conserve biodiversity. The trip is merely a spark to lighten up their motivation to make a difference, helping them understand how our daily actions impact the environment; it is hoped that they could share their experience and insights obtained from this Eco-Tour with their families and friends, and together we create impact and save our environment. 1970 Science alumni Mr John Cheng was happy to accomplish the objectives such as witnessing the African Big Five, and the Great Migration of thousands of wildebeests crossing the Mara River. This was not an ordinary tour to Mr Cheng as with the passionate student eco-leaders and the guidebook, he could know much more about the wildlife instantly when he saw them.

To see more about the exhibition, please click HERE.

Serval

Serval is a secretive small wild cat species in Africa. It has been extremely lucky to encounter this species in our eco-tour.

By Jackson Lau

 

Blue Wildebeests

The Great Migration in action: Thousands of Blue Wildebeests crossing the Mara River

By Sze Wing Yiu

 

 

 

Amboseli

Amboseli

By Matthew Cheng

 

Mount Kenya

Mount Kenya

By Jamie Fung

 

 

 

Spotted Hyeana

Spotted Hyena

By Billy Hau

 

Lion

Lion

By Billy Hau

   

Narina Trogon

Narina Trogon

By Kenneth Lam

 

Lake Nakuru

Lake Nakuru

By Sherry Tse

   

Sun rise in Kenya

Sun rise in Kenya

By Billy Hau

  

East Africa Wildlife Eco-Tour

Join this Eco-Tour to see the Great Migration 大遷徙 in the legendary Masai Mara in Kenya 肯尼亞, which is considered to be one of the most spectacular natural events ever, as well as the breathtaking views of Mount Kilimanjaro in Amboseli and more.

The Tour is curated and guided by Dr Billy Hau of HKU School of Biological Sciences, a terrestrial ecologist and a conservationist. Each tour participant will be paired up with a Student Eco-leader who will act as your personal guide throughout the Tour.

Each tour participant is also invited to make a contribution to support the HKU Eco-Education Fund for Students. The Fund aims to enable students to take part in experiential field expeditions. In particular, your donation shall support Student Eco-leaders to participate in this East Africa Wildlife Eco-Tour.

 
Enquiries:

Beatrice Yip, HKU Foundation Secretariat

 

*Registration deadline has been passed.