Meet Addy Barrett, an 11-year-old girl from Germantown, Maryland who is working hard to save gorillas. Continue reading to learn more about the amazing girl.
Many animals are considered endangered species, which are very likely to become extinct in the near future. Some of the endangered animals are gorillas, who are endangered due to habitat loss, forest degradation, and political instability.
There are many foundations whose aim is to save the endangered species from extinction. Also, there is one girl from Maryland who joined the project to save the animals.
When Meredith Bastian was 8 years old, she went to the National Zoo to get help with a school project. She interviewed the curator of primates at the time and asked her about wild gorillas. Thirty-four years later, Bastian is the curator of primates at the zoo. This summer she talked to a little girl who is also passionate about primates.
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Meet Addy Barrett, an 11-year-old girl from Germantown, Maryland whose goal is to save the endangered species. “What is the difference between a gorilla in the zoo and a gorilla in the wild?” asked little Addy. Meredith told her that there isn’t a big difference between a gorilla in the wild and a gorilla in the zoo. Every animal has its own personality, just like humans do. Animals can also be shy, friendly, playful or even aggressive.
Addy is a regular visitor to the zoo and she loves watching the gorillas interact. She tugged her mom’s shirt with excitement when 1-year-old Moke was chased around the outdoor enclosure.
“It wasn’t until I read a book about gorillas that I really fell in love with how smart they are and how they relate to us,” Addy told Bastian while sitting in front of the zoo’s Great Ape House. She learned that gorillas are being poached and killed for unnecessary reasons, so she felt that she needed to do something.
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Addy is now a sixth-grader at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School. She is working hard to save her favorite animal. She has been selling T-shirts and homemade cookies for the cause, She even hosts an annual Gorilla Gala. Addy was recently named a winner of the 2019 Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes for her work to raise $7,000 for foundations whose goal is to save the gorillas.
Addy hopes one day to get close to a gorilla in the wild. We need more people like her!
