Kuala Lumpur – St John’s International School KL announced its ‘SJIS Adopts A Hornbill Programme, Kiki the Hornbill Goes to School’, a school fund-raising collaboration with Zoo Negara.

Spearheaded by SJIS’s Interact Club students, the adopt a hornbill Programme was an initiative to introduce school students to our national and state bird of Sarawak.

“We also wanted to raise awareness of the fragile state of our birdlife, especially the hornbill that is now close to being on the endangered list,” according to a Zoo Negara spokesperson,” said SJIS Principal, Mr. Suresh Dass.

The SJIS students who initially started the fund raising at the SJIS school carnival were keen to discover why the rhinoceros hornbill (Buceros rhinoceros) was under threat and among themselves began to persuade each other about the vulnerable state of local wildlife.

“At first we did not realise that many of our natural icons were under threat such as the tiger among others and now the hornbill. We felt responsible and wanted to do something to raise awareness among ourselves, ” said Year 11 student, Satveer Singh, who is also the Interact Club President 2018.

The SJIS Interact club undertakes a significant CSR programme every year, and the SJIS adopt a hornbill for a year is landmark event for the students. Among the activities planned for the year is an awareness programme that includes exhibits and talks organized by SJIS and Zoo Negara’s Education Department.