Local student, Anton Nankivill recently visited the Zoo to present a cheque to the Taronga Foundation following his school’s amazing efforts to raise money for the Koala.Anton and his friends at Wahroonga Adventist Student Representative Council organised “Koala Day” which was held in October 2011. The gold coin donation from each student raised a staggering $805.00!Lots of students dressed up as a Koala or wore black, grey and green clothes to help raise money for their “Paws’ campaign. The children made and sold Koala-themed merchandise such as bookmarks, stress balls, cupcakes, key rings and even had a guessing competition to win a Koala-themed gift pack which included Zoo tickets and a 12 month Zoo Parent Sponsorship of a Koala!Taronga Zoo’s Education Department bought wildlife right into the classroom by having a Skype session with the students. As Koalas can’t leave the Zoo, we had to think of a way that the students could interact with the Keepers and the Koalas without actually being at the Zoo! Using technology such as Skype enabled Taronga Zoo’s Keepers to connect face to face with the students and they even got to meet Indie the Koala as well!Anton also donated an extra $200.00 from money he has saved taking the total donation to $1005.00. This amazing effort from such a young boy was so inspiring that Anton and his family were treated to a special behind the scenes experience with some of our Koalas. Two of our Australian Fauna Keepers, Jodie Moretti and Becky Usmar spoke to Anton about the importance of the money he had raised and how this would help Koalas in the future.Anton is from a family of wonderful young fundraisers. His older sister Tanna raised $1500 for the Sumatran Tiger in 2010.Anton is now one of our special Zoo Parents of Koalas and you can be too!Zoo Parent is Taronga’s animal sponsorship program where individuals, families, clubs, groups, schools and organisations can sponsor their favourite animal by becoming Zoo Parents. For further information please click here.