ACCO - Animal Care Conservation Outreach

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ACCO - Animal Care Conservation Outreach

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The advocacy for all wildlife species through captive husbandry, volunteer conservation efforts, and educational outreach - Founder & Director: Mitchell Goodknecht 🌍🏛🦖🐘🦏🦬🐅🐊🦜🦋🐝 https://www.acco-animal-care-conservation-outreach.com/

05/25/2026

Announcing our Dinosaur Summer 2026 lineup of events!

We have a public library tour happening all summer long in various counties across northeastern IL!

Sign-ups and more information available for each library on our ACCO page - as always, please reach out for any questions! We are also planning BIG things to come for our own home-base of Kankakee Country regarding Dinosaur & Mesozoic Animal programming later this year starting in the Fall!

Stay tuned as always, and we hope you enjoy our "Ruling Reptiles" of the Mesozoic!
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https://www.acco-animal-care-conservation-outreach.com/about-1-4

05/08/2026

We want to thank everyone for their incredible support, and to commemorate our recent achievement of over 100 followers!

Community support, involvement, and outreach is imperative to help save wildlife & the natural world itself. We are beyond proud to serve the community of Kankakee County, as well as the surrounding Chicagoland area!

Stay tuned: we have MASSIVE news coming soon for this Summer and the future of our Nature programming!
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04/11/2026

Introducing our updated "International and Resident Wildlife" collection within our ACCO Natural Sciences Museum!

The species in this collection represent those that Founder-Director-Educator (FDE) Mitchell Goodknecht has either worked with personally or seen in the wild (or both; minus the Gorilla and Mako Shark). Others represent entire taxons of this status (Reptiles & Amphibians, Macaws, etc.,).

This collection will be featured to talk about the "Forsaken Five" taxons of wildlife that are poached internationally (Elephant, Rhino, Tiger, Gorilla, and Pangolins-not included in collection yet). Other topics provided include the exotic trade and pet breeding industries, Biomedical research animals, and captive wildlife with respectable organizations.

Stay tuned for these topics and more with our future Nature programming! 🌍💚🏛🐘🦏🐅🦍🐒🐊🦜🌿

01/03/2026

ACCO Founder, Mitchell Goodknecht, is proud to announce that ACCO will continue to collaborate with wildlife organizations that share the same ethos and passions for wildlife in 2026!

With the completion of my Master's degree in Wildlife Conservation & Management in 2025, part of my task was to collaborate with an organization in a similar vocation. I chose Imire Rhino & Wildlife Conservancy in Zimbabwe-Africa, and utilized ACCO as a platform to advocate for their incredible missions in species' conservation & localized community support. The ACCO Natural Sciences Museum was updated with specimens & replicas that reflected the resident species on the conservancy site. I scheduled informal demonstrations at Kankakee Community College & the Volunteer Conference Room at the Field Museum of Natural History for my colleagues - so that the public may understand the mission of Imire and be interested in volunteering there someday or donating to their causes. We will be continuing to collaborate in the same method with Imire Conservancy for the future, and new specimens & replicas may be added for the ACCO X Imire Museum collection!

Other collaborations for 2026 include Aikman Wildlife Adventure in Arcola, IL - where I have personally worked with their international wildlife residents and admire their missions for both captive species' welfare & conservation. Naturally shed specimens from the resident species, like feathers and teeth, have been collected by the keepers and graciously donated to the ACCO program for collaboration. Ethically sourced specimens & replicas like skulls have also been added to the museum collection for this collaboration initiative as well.

Stay tuned for future updates! We have several library demos scheduled for Summer 2026, and we are continuing our partnership with the Bourbonnais Township Park District as well for the new year, featuring new and exciting wildlife topics!

Read more about the continuing ACCO X Imire collaboration through the link below!

https://www.acco-animal-care-conservation-outreach.com/team-3

12/30/2025

As the year draws to a close, we reflect back on our recent successes with public demonstrations for local communities. Our mission is predicated on natural sciences education through interactive and inclusive outreach tactics for all communities. We will continuously strive for the best in the future, and we thank you for your support!

Demonstrations pictured: "ACCO X Imire Conservancy Ambassadorship" displays for Kankakee Community College & Volunteer Conference Room at the Field Museum. "Native Midwest species" demonstrations for Chicago Hope Academy High School, Bourbonnais Township Park District events at the Exploration Station & Recreation Center.

10/10/2025

Proud to unveil our ACCO X Imire Rhino & Wildlife Conservancy collection!

These specimens & replicas reflect the resident species of wildlife that can be visited at Imire Conservancy in Zimbabwe-Africa. Because many of the charismatic species of Imire are listed globally as threatened or endangered conservation statuses, the majority of our collection are replicas (i.e. Black Rhino Horn set, Scrimshaw carved Elephant Ivory set, etc.,). More specimens and replicas include replica Warthog skull , Ostrich infertile egg & cast foot, Antelope pelt, Lion cast pawprint. Other additions possible in the near future.

We have recently added an iconic "Spirit Ambassador" (i.e. animal that has been legally hunted and its byproducts have been repurposed under our program's ethos to act as an "ambassador" to advocate for its living kin in captivity or the wild) in the form of a Sable Antelope. This is a legendary species of Antelope that is culturally significant for its presence, and the species is sustainably & ethically managed through conservation efforts on Imire's site.

Stay tuned for upcoming demonstrations provided to the community of Kankakee County, IL to advocate for Imire's Conservation practices, as well as their partnerships in helping the local indigenous communities & stakeholders in the neighboring region of Zimbabwe-Africa! This partnership between ACCO X Imire is part of a collaborative Capstone Project for founder, Mitchell Goodknecht's, Master's degree in Wildlife Conservation & Management. The goal is to provide Informal Science Education (ISE) through the utilization of our museum collection in order to advocate for the conservancy, procure donations for their cause, and recruit those who are interested in visiting the conservancy to volunteer.

Learn more about our collaborative project, and view our collection, in the links below!

ACCO X Imire Project: https://www.acco-animal-care-conservation-outreach.com/team-3
ACCO X Imire Collection: https://www.acco-animal-care-conservation-outreach.com/portfolio-collections/acco-museum-archive-specimen-collections/acco-x-imire-rhino-conservancy-collection

Overall Collections: https://www.acco-animal-care-conservation-outreach.com/portfolio-collections/acco-museum-archive-specimen-collections
Home Page: https://www.acco-animal-care-conservation-outreach.com/

08/31/2025

Visit the Exploration Station of Perry Farm this Thursday, September 4th from 5-6PM for our collaborative demo with Chicagoland Pig Rescue to learn more about "Global Hog & Pig Species"! Our friends will be sharing their mission in pig rescue and management during the demo.

ACCO will be featuring replicas and ethically sourced specimens from our personal museum collection; this coincides with the ethos of our "Spirit Ambassador" policy, where these collected specimens act as ambassadors to advocate for their living kin in the wild or captivity. Experience replicas & specimens of Warthogs, Javelinas, and Feral Hogs up close and personal! 🌍🐗🐷

We hope to see you there, and stay tuned for more ACCO X BTPD Fall & Winter Nature programming! 🍁🍂❄️

Event Description & Sign-up link:
https://www.acco-animal-care-conservation-outreach.com/hogs-pigs-global-species

08/09/2025

We are excited to announce our official line-up of Nature/Wildlife programs for the Fall & Winter! We will also be hosting "Wildlife Wednesdays" Nature Center through November! Stay tuned for future date announcements!
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05/08/2025

We are delighted to announce our official partnership with the Bourbonnais Township Park District! We will be offering Native Wildlife Programs this summer, primarily at Willowhaven Nature Center! All ages are welcome!

Our goal will be to bring a new era of spectacular wildlife and natural science programming to Kankakee County! With tactics adapted from outreach programs at museums, like the Field Museum of Chicago, ACCO has adopted the concept of sensory learning experiences: allowing guests to interact with non-living specimens which utilizes senses like visual, auditory, and touch.

We possess our own "Museum" of non-living specimens from animals and/or replicas. Therefore, our program prides itself on an ethical learning experience; Specimens have been collected from ethical sources and methods - Absolutely NO live ambassador animals are used in our ACCO program, as live shows and transport can stress animals.

Titles & Dates of upcoming events:

June 1st - Birds of Kankakee County, IL & Beyond!

June 8th - Insects of Kankakee County & IL

June 29th - The Art & Science of Insect Pinning (Tutorial class)

July 13th - Amphibians & Reptiles of Kankakee County & IL

July 20th - Mammals of Kankakee County & IL (Prehistoric Mammals too!)

July 27th - Identifying Animal Tracks

Sign up for these events can be found in the link below!
https://www.btpd.org/events/

We look forward to seeing everyone from the community, and are ecstatic for this new era of Wildlife Advocacy! More programs featuring Exotic Species and Prehistoric Animals (including Dinosaurs!) are being planned for later this year!
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03/31/2025

While I wasn't able to document Greater Prairie Chickens or Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnakes during my recent tracking adventure in Southern IL, flocks of American White Pelicans were documented over the course of 3/27/25-3/28/25 at the hour of Dawn at the Newton Lake region near the lodge site.

Incredible behaviours like wide gape/yawning & throat pouch stretching were observed and captured! Please feel free to visit our website to see more wildlife photography, including photos from this adventure! Thank you everyone for your continuous support for wildlife advocacy!

https://www.acco-animal-care-conservation-outreach.com/portfolio-collections/my-portfolio/southern-il-birding

https://www.acco-animal-care-conservation-outreach.com/portfolio-collections/my-portfolio

Address

Bradley, IL
60915

Telephone

+18155493540

Website

https://www.acco-animal-care-conservation-outreach.com/

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