Wildlife Encounters Ecology Center and Farm School’s Animal Behavior Enrichment Coordinator & Environmental Educator, Jean Cumings delighted young and not so young with an educational and awe inspiring presentation of ambassador animals from around the globe. The animals live at the Wildlife Center because they were injured in the wild and are not able to survive independently, were exploited by the illegal trade in wildlife and placed by law enforcement authorities, or were captive-bred in a US-based protected environment to participate in public education and species/biodiversity conservation efforts.
Visiting ambassadors were a skunk and alligator from North America, a prehensile tail porcupine and a white and black tegu from South America, a leopard tortoise and a hedgehog from Africa, and a wallaby from Australia. The children learned about and even petted some of the animals. On what was a very warm day outside, there were a lot of, “So cool,” being said. Did you know that female kangaroos can determine the gender of their offspring? They can even delay gestation when environmental factors are likely to diminish the chance of their young surviving. Now that is really cool! It was a fun and interesting program for all.