Ambassador Animals

AZA Ambassador Animal Policy states that AZA requires all accredited facilities that house ambassador animals to develop a Facility Ambassador Animal Policy. The circumstances under which an animal would be considered an ambassador animal are provided in this document.

Recommendations for Developing a Facility Ambassador Animal Policy can assist facilities in developing their own ambassador animal policies.

AZA Policy for Animal Contact with the General Public evaluates the risks of zoonotic diseases presented by different groups of animals and the precautions to take to prevent the spread of diseases between contact animals and visitors.

AZA Conservation Education Committee Position Statement Regarding Animals Acting as Ambassadors includes research that demonstrates the educational value of ambassador animals and discusses the elements for crafting these experiences in a way that supports participant learning and maintains a high degree of animal wellbeing. 

Principles of Ambassador Animal Management is an AZA Professional Development course that provides a wide variety of information on all aspects of managing ambassador animal collection. Intended for ambassador animal coordinators and managers; education staff who utilize animal ambassadors within their programs; ambassador animal and interpretive keepers; and museum professionals who handle live animals.

Examples of Ambassador Animal Policies (Login Required) provides a variety of example policies related to ambassador animal programs and animal handling procedures used by AZA member facilities. 

Example Operations Protocols for Touch Pool/Petting Environment (Login Required) includes example protocols related to the management of touch pools from various AZA member facilities.

Example Animal Handling and Animal Handler Training Protocols: 

• Example Documents in Accreditation Resource Center (Login Required) have examples of animal handler training protocols.
• Example Documents Collected by the Ambassador Animal Scientific Advisory Group includes examples of resources related to handler training, animal handling protocols, and animal usage tracking templates.
• Example Handler Evaluations (compiled by the Ambassador Animal Scientific Advisory Group) includes examples related to evaluating animal handlers.

Ambassador Animal Evaluation Tool can be used to evaluate a species or individual animal and determine if the species or individual will be a good fit for animal program usage.

Ambassador Animal SAG Newsletter covers various topics regarding ambassador animals that are written by and for industry professionals who regularly work with ambassador animals.