Vilvoorde (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – At KTA Horteco Secondary School in Vilvoorde, 6th-grade students, guided by teacher Vanessa Claus and in partnership with WPA-Benelux, breed and study rare Temminck’s tragopans for conservation.
As VRT News reported, at KTA Horteco Secondary School in Vilvoorde, students and staff are breeding and studying red pheasants, with a focus on the rare Temminck’s tragopan. The school works closely with WPA-Benelux, the regional branch of the World Pheasant Association.
“This is a real gift for our school,”
says teacher Vanessa Claus.
“The tragopan is a beautiful bird. With this project, our students learn about DNA research, purebred breeding, and the importance of conservation.”
How are Vilvoorde students at KTA Horteco helping save the rare Temminck’s Tragopans?
Several 6th-grade students at KTA Horteco Secondary School are carrying out their final project on the red pheasant. Officials mentioned that the students are studying everything the birds need to breed successfully, including the right nesting materials, food, and living conditions.
They said that the project also matches the school’s educational mission, which focuses on hands-on learning combined with classroom teaching. Students gain practical experience in animal care, observation, and data collection. They also learn more about wildlife biology and how to protect ecosystems.
“Our students learn to care for animals, but also for biodiversity. The tragopans show that species conservation isn’t just for scientists in faraway countries. It starts right here, in our classrooms in Vilwoorde,”
Claus concludes.
The Temminck’s tragopan (Tragopan temminckii) is a species that inhabits montane forests in the eastern Himalayas, including parts of northeastern India, central China and northern Myanmar, primarily at elevations of around 1,800 to 4,500 meters. The IUCN Red List currently places the species in the Least Concern category, but threats within its habitat do exist, such as forest‑clearance, grazing and egg‑collecting.
