(^54) AnimalTales
COURTESY OF KATE GILMAN WILLIAMS (4)
Animal Advocate
KIDS
CAN SAVE
ANIMALS!
Wildlife Warrior Kate’s motto:“
“
Hi,Kate!Canyoustart
bytellingusaboutyour
safari trip?
It was really cool! I would wake
up early and get to see animals in
their natural habitats.
What kind of animals
did you see on safari?
So many! I saw elephants and
impala — there’s a lot of impala.
Most rivers have hippos, and I sawtwoalligators,whichwascool.
There’s a lowerchance,butyou
might see rhinos. And if you’re
really lucky, you’ll see a cheetah
like I did.
Amazing! How did you
meet Michelle?
She was my game driver. In Africa,
you don’t really get a girl game
driver, so it was really big for me to
have Michelle as mine. I tugged onmy mom’s shirt and was
like, “It’s a girl, it’s a girl!”
And then when I got into
her truck the next day, I
just loved it.
What made
Michelle such an
awesome guide?
She taught me a lot of
animals statistics, like every eight
hours a rhino is killed and every
day 58 elephants are killed. She
also taught me that humans are
responsible for a lot of the killing
of animals through poaching and
human-wildlife conflict. I learned
that if we don’t do something
to help, we might not see these
animals anymore [because they’ll
go extinct].
So did you guys write
this book together whileA family trip helped Kate realizethat wild animals need our help!W
hen she was 7 years old, Kate Gilman Williams went on the
trip of a lifetime: an African safari with her family. She was
amazed by all the cool animals she got to see. So when one of
her guides, Michelle Campbell, told her about all the threats these
amazing animals were facing, she was devastated. Kate knew she
had to do something. Now she’s 9 years old, and with Michelle’s help,
she’s written Let’s Go On Safari!, a book that encourages other kids
to help animals, too. Animal Tales caught up with Kate to talk about
her life-changing safari trip, her book and her advocacy work.