A large brown cougar and two tiger cubs attracted hundreds of students to Ball State's annual Earth Day Festival at the University Green Thursday afternoon.
"You don't normally see a large feline walking around campus," said junior Chelsea Cohen, coordinator of Earth Week and Natural Resources Club president. "People could actually get up close to them and see what they're like. They're beautiful animals; it's their aesthetics that really attracted them."
The felines were brought in by Great Cats of Indiana, which was sponsored by the Ball State Chapter of The Wildlife Society. It was one of about 30 local, state and national organizations, government agencies and businesses at this year's festival.
"Great Cats of Indiana is a national organization, and Indiana is lucky enough to have one here," said freshman James Whatton of The Wildlife Society.
Cohen said the state organization, located in Idaville, is reserved for large felines and mammals that have been neglected, come from bad homes or were sold on the black market. "Now they're in a place where they can have a happy, healthy life and where they're not constricted," she said.
A red-tailed hawk at the festival named Windwalker has also been living a healthier life since she was rescued after being hit by a truck 17 years ago, said Diana Shaffer, founder of Wildlife Resqu Haus in Yorktown. As the hawk stood on her right hand, Shaffer described how the organization works hard to treat the many injured birds it receives each year.
About 68 birds came through the facility between August and September, Shaffer said. She said she recovers injured birds from 17 counties, going as far north as Marion and Grant counties and as far south as Hancock County.
"I'm feeding them, trying to keep them alive," Shaffer said.
Cohen said all of the state and local organizations gathered at the festival to raise environmental awareness in the community, especially on campus, Cohen said. She said several students from the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management, Department of Biology and Department of Architecture also gave independent presentations to highlight important issues.
"We (want to) engage people in dialogue on issues being worked on, how it's being worked on and how they can become part of it," Cohen said.
Members of Students for a Sustainable Campus at Ball State showed off mailing envelopes they created from old magazines and notebooks made up of used computer paper printed on only one side.
This demonstrates the importance of reusing materials and reducing waste, freshman member Nadia Roumie said.
"A campus like this uses so much (waste) it's unbelievable," junior member Lydia Storie said. "Making a campus that balances the waste it produces and the products it produces improves the economy of the campus and improves the lives of the people on campus."
Senior Nat Baker, president of the organization, said he is trying to promote recycling with the Student Government Association within the next year to set up a better program on campus.
"Our organization was primarily created to help students realize the university can become more environmentally friendly," Baker said.
Senior Sarah Trzynka, who helped to give a presentation on problems with mercury, said her group also presented a purchasing policy to SGA Wednesday on how to reduce the use of mercury on campus.
"We want to come up with an educational program for people who don't know much about mercury, how it affects the environment and what to do when it spills," Trzynka said.
Despite the rain, Cohen said the turnout from both the Ball State and Muncie communities was good. Both communities played a large part in making Earth Aid 2004 a success, she said.
"I think we ended with a bang," she said.
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