Sophie Brugmann
Active Member
And also don't require a large water body...
Best mammals for Ambassador programs?
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That's definitely another plus to the agouti over the capybara.
Columbus has a trio of capy ambassadors.
What kinds of programs are they used for?
I'm not sure the full extent of their work, and they're fairly young (all siblings), but they do a little parade each day after opening and before closing, moving them from indoors to outdoors and back. They block off the two little entrance/exit paths to the building and people can stand inside of the barricade for the parade. They had just started doing it on my visit in November, they had a heck of a time getting them back inside
There's also a BTS with them.
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
I haven't seen capybaras used by zoos in that way.
They do tend to become very docile and tolerant of humans in both zoos and tame easily even in the wild so at least in theory they would appear to be good candidates for ambassador species.
However, I think one potential problem that could arise and pose problems would be health concerns for visitors as they do tend to carry a lot of zoonotic viruses and also parasites.
Wow, that really comes as a suprise to me as from what I've observed agoutis tend to be really quite nervous and jumpy animals and they can occasionaly deliver quite a nasty bite too.
Then again I suppose if they are tamed and well conditioned to humans from a young age many of these behaviours can be suppressed.
If the program at Turtle Bay Adventure Park (Redding, CA) is any indication -- Quite well. I visited there in September, and got introduced to their beaver, 'Timber,' in no uncertain terms when I was volunteered to feed him his breakfast as part of a paid encounter (I didn't expect to be feeding).
Timber's an interesting character. He came from the Minnesota Zoo and, when he first came to Turtle Bay, he was absolutely terrified of humans. After a year or so of some very dedicated work by his keepers, he most definitely got over this fear. I know, because I have video footage of him parked very comfortably in my lap, chowing down on dandelion greens and various other veggies as fast as I could provide them.
Sharon, the curator, who also was the one to pretty much raise Timber, told me that they didn't train the lap thing at all. Timber came up with it all on his own. If there were ever a 'born ambassador,' he's one for certain.
The only downside was the fact he tips the scale at 48 pounds. Heaviest critter I've ever had using me as a pillow (honestly, I didn't mind... it was just a surprise). Among other things, I learned that beaver fur is as soft as a typical housecat.
If anyone wants to see the footage, let me know. I'll park it on my Sync drive and send you a link.
I just read through this whole thread, and it’s been very interesting. I know I’m a little late, but some unusual ambassador animals I’m aware of include red kangaroos and binturongs, which have been used in educational programs my the Bronx Zoo in recent years.
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As with any other animal, it depends entirely on the individual. The old Marine World/Africa USA park, in their original location near Redwood City (CA), had what had to be the world's mellowest cougar (or mountain lion, if you prefer) in their 'Ecology Theater' presentation.
This particular cat was a retired animal actor, having played the lead role in the old film 'Charlie the Lonesome Cougar' and appeared in several TV commercials. He spent 90% of his time sleeping in a quiet corner of the show stage, or people-watching through barely-open eyes. I don't remember his actual name, but I certainly remember getting to pet him at one time. He glanced at me, sniffed my hand, then laid his head back down and started purring nearly loud enough to make the stage vibrate.
I've always believed nearly any animal can be an 'ambassador.' It depends entirely on the critter's individual personality, how they've been raised, trained, etc.
I remember seeing a Mountain Lion in a education program many years ago at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. The cat appeared well trained and comfortable with the situation, didn't seem nervous at all. I would agree with you they work just fine as ambassador animals so long as you have a acclimated and comfortable individual along with staff trained in handling larger cats. If a Clouded Leopard can be used why not a Mountain Lion?
Probably has to do with the fact that Clouded Leopards are smaller than Mountain Lions, so people are inclined to perceive them as being less dangerous
I thought a lot of medium to large AZA zoos had them as ambassadors. I know Nahsville and Port Defiance keeping them as such but idk if it is going that way.
Point Defiance and San Diego come to mind, and several other places also use them.
Just wanted to point out that ambassador doesn't always mean you get to interact with the animal. For most felids and other carnivores, especially, interaction is illegal and no zoo (reputable, anyway) is going to risk their reputation and potential injuries to let people pet an animal. Ambassador can mean presentations, feeding with some sort of wall between you and the animal, some places even have ambassadors that only do online presentations.
On a tangent to that... I've noticed a pattern in zoos which have animal interactive programs vs. those which don't, or which have poorly-done ones (my opinion).
That pattern seems to be that AZA-accredited places are much less likely to have what I would consider any kind of decent interactive program. All the better ones I've seen, to date, have been at ZAA-accredited or unaccredited places. There are exceptions, of course (Indiana, apparently), but the pattern looks pretty clear to me.
This has led me to wonder if AZA, as an organization, has some built-in-but-unwritten hostility towards such programs.
Just thinking out loud...
The AZA is compliant with local laws and legislations, and focuses more on conservation than profit. They're not hostile towards such programs but generally do what's best for the animal instead of allowing the animals to be handled all over, subjected to various photoshoots, etc. The AZA programs often also have the benefit of better safety - I've heard multiple accounts of clearly unknowledgable staff handling animals and supervising public handling at unaccredited places. Not to say all unaccredited places are that way, plenty are very good and safe in what they do. But there are also many that are not.
Oh, I know. Believe me, I know!
With that said, I can't deny the evidence of my own experiences. The fact remains that the best interactive experiences I've had have been at facilities that are not AZA-accredited. What the exact cause of this anomaly is, well... The jury really is out on that one.
Please don't get me wrong. I would never want to see any interactive experience put ahead of animal welfare. I've also run into quite a few animals who are so interested in, and comfortable with, human company that it seems like they were born to be ambassadors.
A red-tail hawk I used to work with pretty regularly was like that (he's the bird in my avatar picture), but the surprise is he was not a 'social imprint' (a term most often used to refer to an animal which imprinted on humans shortly after being born, hatched, etc.) Mohave was parent-reared, so he knew perfectly well he was a bird. He was just fascinated by people and very comfortable around them.
This is getting back to something I mentioned in my other thread on interactive exhibits: One size does not fit all. A zoo or oceanarium which is serious about doing animal-interactive exhibits needs to carefully screen the animals they want to use in such a program, and they also need to make sure they can set up the right physical environment to do the program safely for all.
Let the animal's personality and reactions, in a test environment, show you who would enjoy being an ambassador and who wouldn't, and NEVER try to force anything!
The cause of this really isn't an anomaly. The AZA guidelines, followed by all their zoos, sets some rather strict, but necessary, rules as to how zoos can manage ambassador animals. This includes an outright ban on primates as ambassador animals (necessary for both safety and the health of the animal), strongly discouraging the use of big cats (barring clouded leopard), and setting guidelines as to the sorts of supervision necessary for these programs.
Furthermore, it also has to do with the current trends in zoo education and animal welfare. One current school of thought in the ambassador animal world has been moving away from touch opportunities with ambassador animals. Part of this is related to disease transmission (ex. reducing risk of the animals getting COVID-19), while part of this is related to what sorts of educational messaging is the zoo trying to achieve (ex. some zoos like to stress that this animal does not make a good pet, and touch opportunities can debatably undermine that messaging). In the realm of animal welfare, many zoos are also moving towards having encounters be voluntary for the animal, in order to increase animal choice (which is important for good mental well-being). Due to this, these zoos may look more critically as to how the animals respond to touch opportunities, and while some animals may love the attention/being pet, many others do not like these sorts of opportunities. This also happens independently of the animals species- I've worked with two domestic rabbit ambassadors, one of which absolutely loved being pet, while the other absolutely did not like the touch opportunities. As a result, at the first zoo, touch opportunities were included in rabbit ambassador presentations, while at the second zoo, they were not.
Aardwolf
Well-Known Member
When I started out in the field, the rule for an animal being an ambassador was "can we let people touch it safely?" That was really it. You picked it up (sometimes after a brief little chase around its enclosure), took it out, held it for visitors to touch, and that was that. There wasn't much thought as to whether the animal was, in fact, okay with being touched.
Especially at ZAA or unaccredited facilities where I worked, we were told to be out with ambassadors for whatever time we had that wasn't spent doing husbandry or maintenance, constantly working the crowds to keep visitors happy. And yes, visitors loved having a binturong on a fence post or an alligator they could pet. Especially on the very busy days, however, I would notice that the animals wanted nothing more than to go back to their enclosures and be left alone.
Now, especially in AZA, there is much stronger emphasis on voluntary participation in ambassador programs. I've seen keepers go into the ambassador animal's enclosure and the animal has opted not to make itself available to them - maybe it won't come down from a perch, or out of a nest box. The protocol years ago would have been, well just grab it! Now, staff respect the animal's decision and get a different animal. When animals are taken out, there is less emphasis on their being handled - snakes are often presented on climbing trees, armadillos in dig boxes, etc.
Especially at ZAA or unaccredited facilities where I worked, we were told to be out with ambassadors for whatever time we had that wasn't spent doing husbandry or maintenance, constantly working the crowds to keep visitors happy. And yes, visitors loved having a binturong on a fence post or an alligator they could pet. Especially on the very busy days, however, I would notice that the animals wanted nothing more than to go back to their enclosures and be left alone.
Now, especially in AZA, there is much stronger emphasis on voluntary participation in ambassador programs. I've seen keepers go into the ambassador animal's enclosure and the animal has opted not to make itself available to them - maybe it won't come down from a perch, or out of a nest box. The protocol years ago would have been, well just grab it! Now, staff respect the animal's decision and get a different animal. When animals are taken out, there is less emphasis on their being handled - snakes are often presented on climbing trees, armadillos in dig boxes, etc.