Mosman High School Students Back The Bogul

Mosman High School Students Back The Bogul

#Taronga Zoo Sydney

Posted on 24th November 2011 by Media Relations

Claire, a Year 8 student from Mosman High School, wrote Journal Entries before and after the Pets Day Out for Mosman Festival on October 30. The students were part of an education program about the Bogul through Taronga Zoo's education department. Here are some of these entires…October 15, 2011The bush rat (also known as the Bogul) is predicted to have become extinct in Sydney over ninety years ago with the arrival of the first fleet. European people are thought to have damaged and destroyed a lot of the bushland habitat around Sydney (in which the bogul was situated) and may also have killed the Bogul in mistake for the black rat. The black rat, a pest which came to Australia on European ships, was able to force its way into the picture at this point and gain dominance throughout the Sydney area; eventually driving the Bogul to extinction in Sydney.These were all things that we discovered while we studied the Bogul; finding along the way that this was no ordinary rodent. In contrast to many other rats, I in particular was surprised that it could be such a lovable creature. The Bogul we found was not a pest; fitted in well with local wildlife; and was strong enough to keep its ground against the black rat when closer examined.Everyone is very excited about the upcoming Mosman festival; where we will be able to display some of the creative and interesting pieces we have created on this particular animal. We will also be able to pass on some of the things that we have learnt throughout our unit on the Bogul.The Bogul rat is a great animal to be working with and we hope that it does well in its fight to regain ascendency. Go Bogul Go!November 3, 2011I believe that Pets day out was a success for the Bogul, not only because we were able to inform so many different people about the bushrat but also because a large number of people seemed genuinely interested in helping the good old Aussie Battler. A lot of different individuals passed our stall and using some of our public speaking techniques we were able to draw a lot of people into the project. We came up with a variety of ways to grab people’s attention, including a fantastic interactive Bogul game, a number of different colourful posters, two different types of informative leaflets and a Bogul drawing competition. Mosman students also went out and interacted with the people passing the stall; rather than simply standing behind the table waiting for people to come and approach it. It was a great experience in which Mosman High students were able to pass on the interesting knowledge we had discovered while researching the bush rat to other enthusiastic Mosman community members.  I declare this pets day out an impressive success for our friend the Bogul. Thank you Taronga Zoo for giving us the opportunity to explore this interesting animal here at Mosman High!!