There are many wonderful species of animals around the world that are greatly underappreciated, like the Canis Lupus Dingo, native to Australia, or the Chagos anemonefish, native to the Indian Ocean. Along with animals being underappreciated, there are many natural forming flora that need more recognition, like the Euphorbia obesa, which is also referred to as the baseball plant. 

To bring attention to these plants and animals, there was a day created to help bring awareness to them. This day is referred to as World Wildlife Day.

World Wildlife Day is celebrated on the 3rd of March every year. The world day centers mainly on the fauna and flora found all around the world. 

For those who do not know what fauna and flora are, fauna is the general term for animals all across the world, and flora is the general term for flowers all across the world. Some fungi and bacteria could also be considered flora too.

“My favorite fauna is a fox because I genuinely think they are super cute, although some could literally kill me,” Sophomore Ria Pujara said. “Their whole appearance is just appealing to me.” 

“My favorite flora is a rose because they are really vibrant and it’s a very pretty flower. The different varieties of color that they have to offer is very cool too,” said Pujara.

Many people like plants and animals, but don’t know how to help them. Some simple ways that you could help is by picking up trash, planting trees, and donating to animal rights organizations, like World Animal Protection, or the Humane Society of the United States. But these aren’t the only things that someone could do to help.

“Over the past two years, I have been volunteering to help clean the beaches in SoCal, and I have adapted to conserving water since California is in an ongoing drought,” sophomore Makayla Gomez said.

Now more than ever we need to take action and help protect wildlife. Today is meant to inform and spread awareness in regards to the nature that surrounds our community. 

“This is crucial in our lives to actually appreciate our wildlife in the world. With modern times, a number of ecosystems have been taken down, several cases of deforestation, and overall the livelihood of our animals have been jeopardized,” junior Celeste Hong said. “This day allows us to respect our wildlife and show generosity towards our animals and ecosystems.”