This past summer, the Virginia Aquarium opened the new Bob & Leslie Fort Animal Ambassador Center (AAC). This state-of-the-art facility is now home to our animal ambassadors, a group of mostly non-exhibit animals used in our education programs. At 4,800 square feet, the new AAC is nearly twice the size of the previous 2,600 square foot animal ambassador building. This gives more room for the Aquarium’s animals to thrive, as well as the space to house additional animals.
The facility, located behind our South Building, is named in honor of Bob and Leslie Fort, who have demonstrated years of philanthropic support and commitment to conservation education at the Aquarium. Bob has served on the Virginia Aquarium Foundation Board since 1997, playing a pivotal role in shaping our mission and growth. The Forts have generously contributed to numerous initiatives at our facility over the years, helping to expand educational outreach, enhance animal care, and build community support for our conservation work.
Our Animal Ambassador Program was created to offer up-close animal encounters to guests at the Aquarium and around our community through our outreach programs. Currently, our animal ambassador team offers daily programs at the South Building at 11:30am, and pop-up programs around the galleries. These programs introduce one of our ambassadors to guests to teach facts about the animal, their natural history, and conservation information. Among the animal ambassadors are tenrecs, snakes, and lizards, and our team will soon welcome more mammals, and birds.
"When I was brought on as senior curator, the Vice President of Animal Care at the time asked me what I would do differently regarding the old building, and told me to write a 3-year, 5-year, and 10-year plan for this area," said Michele, senior curator overseeing the animal ambassador team. Eventually, the staff were given the greenlight for funding, and designed a building that meets USDA regulations and AZA standards for animal care, and that could house a myriad of birds, mammals, reptiles, and more.
The original animal ambassador building was a donated structure not specially designed for birds or any other animal ambassador species at the Aquarium. In fact, according to the animal ambassador team, it was intended to house Komodo dragons instead.
"This is the first space we've had that has actually been built for animal ambassadors and fits our needs," said assistant curator Chris.
Construction was quick - the entire process to build the facility took a mere 10 months to complete. During this time, however, the team had to move the animals into temporary habitats across the North and South Buildings.
