Animal Ambassador Academy
Learning Gets a Little Wild Here
Animal Ambassador Academy brings real animals, real stories, and real conservation education together in a way students can see, hear, experience, and remember.
Created by Hunts Exotics Foundation, Animal Ambassador Academy is designed for preschool, elementary, middle school, and homeschool students. Lessons can be adjusted for different ages, group sizes, learning styles, and educational goals.
We do not believe students should only sit quietly, listen, and watch. We want them to think, question, observe, participate, and discover what they actually know.
Whether a student is meeting a wallaby for the first time, studying animal adaptations, learning about endangered species, or discovering why an exotic animal may not make a good pet, every lesson is built around meaningful, hands-on education.
Who We Serve
Built for Curious Kids
Animal Ambassador Academy can be adapted for groups of all sizes — from a small family homeschool to an audience of 250 participants.
What Students Learn
More Than an Animal Encounter
Animal Ambassador Academy is not simply an opportunity to see an animal. Each lesson can introduce students to topics that build real understanding — and real compassion.
Start with What You Think You Know
One of the most important parts of Animal Ambassador Academy is our Brain Dump activity.
Before students begin a lesson, watch a documentary, read a book, or meet an animal, they write down every single thing they think they know about that species. The answers do not have to be perfect. They do not even have to be correct. The goal is to give students a place to start.
After the lesson, students return to their original Brain Dump. They can correct misconceptions, add new facts, and see how much their knowledge has grown. This helps students recognize their own progress and gives teachers and parents an easy way to see learning and mastery.
Download the Animal Brain DumpThis printable can be used with Animal Ambassador Academy lessons, wildlife documentaries, zoo visits, nature programs, books, or independent animal research.
Learning Through Real Experiences
Students learn that their behavior matters when they are around animals. Our ambassador animals are not props. They are living animals with individual personalities, preferences, boundaries, and needs.
During an Animal Ambassador Academy experience, students may learn how their voices, movements, body language, and choices can affect an animal. When students remain calm, follow directions, and interact respectfully, they help create a positive experience for the animal. That is part of animal training, too.
These lessons help students build empathy, patience, responsibility, self-awareness, observation skills, and respect for living things. Sometimes the most important lesson is knowing when to slow down, stay quiet, and allow the animal to choose.
Tailored for Every Learner
Programs That Grow with the Student
Preschool Explorers
Short, exciting lessons built around animal recognition, movement, sounds, habitats, colors, body coverings, basic needs, and safe animal interactions. Lessons use simple language, repetition, movement, observation, and age-appropriate questions.
Elementary Wildlife Learners
Interactive lessons that introduce habitat, adaptations, diet, predators, defenses, animal behavior, conservation, and responsible care. Students can participate in Brain Dumps, observation activities, drawing prompts, vocabulary work, and guided discussions.
Middle School Animal Ambassadors
More advanced lessons exploring animal biology, behavior, enrichment, husbandry, conservation status, habitat destruction, ethical animal care, exotic animal laws, and the realities of rescue and sanctuary work. Students are encouraged to think critically and challenge common myths.
Homeschool Academy
Flexible programs and downloadable resources for individual families, homeschool groups, cooperatives, and microschools. Lessons may be used as stand-alone experiences or combined into a larger animal science, biology, environmental science, or conservation unit.
Meet the Animal Teachers
Every Animal Has Something to Teach Us
Some teach us about adaptations. Some help us understand conservation. Some show us why exotic animals require specialized care. Others help students understand rescue, rehabilitation, behavior, patience, and trust.
The animals who participate in educational programs are selected based on their individual health, behavior, temperament, comfort, and needs. Animal participation is never guaranteed simply because an animal belongs to a certain species. The safety and well-being of the animal always comes first.
Our ambassadors may include mammals, reptiles, birds, invertebrates, and other species cared for by Hunts Exotics Foundation and our licensed professional partners.
Books from the Wild Tribe
Read, Learn, and Stay Wild
Learning does not have to end when the animal program is over. Our children's books are inspired by real animals from Hunts Exotics Foundation. Each story combines adventure, personality, kindness, animal behavior, and lessons young readers can carry with them long after the final page.
Book Cover
Super Starke
Starke the fox wants to be a hero — but first, he has to learn that being super is about more than being fast, clever, or getting his own way. This story introduces children to friendship, accountability, problem-solving, and the importance of making things right.
Buy Super StarkeBook Cover
Sydney's Spectacular Adventure
Join Sydney the wallaby as she explores Hunts Exotics Foundation, meets members of the Wild Tribe, and learns that every animal has a different personality, story, and way of experiencing the world. This story encourages curiosity, patience, observation, kindness, and respect for animals who may be shy, cautious, different, or misunderstood.
Buy Sydney's Spectacular AdventureFree Learning Downloads
The Wild Learning Library
Welcome to the Wild Learning Library — a growing collection of free educational resources created to help children keep learning at home, in the classroom, during homeschool lessons, or while watching their favorite animal documentaries. New resources will be added as they are created, so families and educators should check back often.
Animal Brain Dump
A flexible worksheet students can complete before and after learning about any animal. Works with live programs, documentaries, books, zoo visits, or independent research.
Download the Brain DumpAnimal Fact Sheets
A growing collection of printable animal fact sheets covering native range, habitat, diet, adaptations, conservation status, fun facts, and student observation sections.
Notify Me When AvailableDocumentary Learning Pages
Printable activities children can use while watching wildlife documentaries, educational videos, or nature programs. Includes observation prompts, reflection questions, and a space for what surprised them.
Notify Me When AvailableTeacher & Homeschool Resources
Vocabulary pages, observation journals, habitat activities, myth vs. fact worksheets, conservation challenges, reading response pages, life-cycle worksheets, and junior wildlife expert certificates.
Notify Me When AvailableLearn Before You Own
Loving an Animal Is Not the Same as Being Ready for One
One of the most important lessons we teach is that loving an animal does not automatically mean someone is prepared to own one.
Exotic animals may require specialized diets, secure enclosures, permits, experienced veterinary care, enrichment, temperature control, social structures, and years — or even decades — of commitment. Some species are adorable. That does not mean they are easy pets.
Animal Ambassador Academy helps students and families look beyond social media clips and cute baby photos. We discuss what animals truly need, how those needs change as they grow, and why responsible research must happen before an animal is brought home. Education protects animals and people.
Sara Hunt, Executive Director & Lead Educator
Animal Ambassador Academy was created by Sara Hunt, Executive Director and Lead Educator of Hunts Exotics Foundation.
Sara is a former board-certified teacher who has been licensed to work with exotic animals since 2018 and has worked as an exotic species consultant since 2022. She has direct experience working with more than 82 exotic species and has taught thousands of students across Florida through school programs, camps, homeschool events, youth organizations, animal science experiences, and community outreach.
Her background also includes serving as a 4-H leader, agriculture show-team leader, professional photographer, veterinary technician assistant student, author, and animal educator. Animal Ambassador Academy combines teaching experience, storytelling, hands-on animal knowledge, and real sanctuary work. The goal is not simply to tell students facts — the goal is to help them understand, remember, and care.
Frequently Asked Questions
Questions About the Academy
#StayWild
Ready to Make Your Next Lesson a Little Wilder?
Animal Ambassador Academy programs can be customized for preschool, elementary, middle school, homeschool, libraries, camps, youth groups, and community organizations. Species cannot always be selected far in advance — animal health, behavior, weather, and individual comfort can affect which ambassadors are available. We would rather surprise students with an animal who is healthy and ready than promise a specific animal who may no longer be the right choice on program day.
Hunts Exotics Foundation is a Florida-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit exotic animal sanctuary and education organization. Our mission is conservation through education. Stay Curious. Stay Compassionate. Stay Wild.