Poachers and Eco-Police

Equipment

  • 50 animal cards (8 cm squares cut from cardboard: draw an animal outline or write an animal name on each)
  • Strips of paper 2 cm x 20 cm in two colors for "lives"
  • Safety pins one per player and some extras

To Play (15-minute rounds)

Hide the cards randomly throughout the play area. Explain that it is a wildlife reserve and hunting is prohibited.

Organize the troop into two equal teams and assign a color to each. Players pin a life of the appropriate color to their right shoulder.

Name one team the EcoPolice (conservation officers), who ensure there is no hunting in the preserve. Name the other team the Poachers, who try to capture animals and take them back to their hunting lodge.

Designate a zone at one end of the play area the hunting lodge. Poachers begin the game at the lodge and EcoPolice scatter through the whole preserve area. Set a time of 15 minutes for the game.

On a signal, Poachers set out to hunt animals, capture them by putting the cards in their pocket, and return to the hunting lodge without being caught.

Poachers may capture only one animal on each trip from the lodge.

EcoPolice tries to arrest Poachers with animals. They make the arrest by removing the life from a Poacher's shoulder.

If the Poacher has an animal, he must surrender it and return to the hunting lodge for a new life. If he isn't in possession of an animal, the arrest is unlawful and the EcoPolice must return the Poacher's life. Poachers may not capture EcoPolice.

When time is up, bring together the troop and tally up the number of animals captured and the number saved by the EcoPolice. Gather up all the animal cards, including those still hidden in the area, send out leaders to hide them again, switch team roles, and play another 15 minute round.

 

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