ACCO - Animal Care Conservation Outreach, Bradley, IL (2025)

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!
🌎🏛🦣🦬🦌🐺🦊🦦🦝🦫🦅🐢🐍🦎🐸🦋🐝🌻🌾

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

01/01/2025

We had a wonderful and monumental year: From visiting the grand & magnificent wildlife of Imire Rhino Conservancy of Zimbabwe, to appreciating the proud & humble wildlife of the midwest. We even accomplished our soft launch of demonstrations with the help of loved ones who we appreciate dearly for their immense support in our program! Thank you all for your love and support, and may the New Year bring prosperity and more wild adventures!
💖🌍🐘🦏🦬🇿🇼🇺🇸

11/29/2024

Rhinoceros Profiles - Part 1 "Elegant Females, Bold Males, and Charming Calves."
Sept. 2024 💖🌍🇿🇼🦏

Species Pictured: Hook-lipped or "Black" Rhinos (Diceros bicornis). Square-lipped or "White" Rhinos (Ceratotherium simum).

All individuals pictured are residents of the Imire Rhino & Wildlife Conservancy of Zimbabwe, Africa. We thank this organization for the opportunity to serve under their mission! Please consider supporting their missions of conservation and/or local community efforts by donating to their organization. https://www.imire.co.zw/support/

11/01/2024

During the late Summer and early Autumn seasons of 2024, we were successful in our soft launch of the ACCO program through public demonstrations & educational outreach! There were 3 venues that we gave public talks to within the region of Kankakee County, IL including: Citadel Healthcare of Bourbonnais-IL, The Kankakee River State Park-IL, & Catholic Charities of Kankakee County-IL. We enjoyed all the demonstrations so far, and wish to thank the coordinators of these organizations for allowing us to present, and we give our deepest gratitude to those who continue to support our ACCO program.

We are actively improving our demonstration topics, adding new educational material and expanding on our personal museum collection to deliver wonderful experiences for sensory engagement! If there are any local organizations who desire to host one of our demonstrations, please visit our website link below to learn more about the services we offer. Founder & Director, Mitchell Goodknecht can also be contacted on social media platforms as well (Facebook, Instagram). Please be sure to follow ACCO socials for future updates!
https://www.acco-animal-care-conservation-outreach.com/services-8

Thank you everyone for your continuous love & support! 💖

11/01/2024

The month of November represents "Indigenous Heritage Month."

This is a time for reflection on the true narrative of American history, recognizing & bringing awareness to the malicious genocide of native peoples of our North, Central, & Southern American Continent. ACCO's mission during this time is meant to honour not only the native wildlife we are fortunate to possess in our region, but to also honour the nations of peoples that for tens of thousands of years, sustainably lived alongside these species, and continue to honour them today with their indigenous wisdom & teachings. We strive to respectfully teach about species that are culturally significant to these nations from a third party perspective, and desire to work in future collaboration with any representatives from tribal nations within the IL region or otherwise. These nations of peoples are still here, they are thriving, and we wholeheartedly support their livelihoods & cultures. 🦬🫎🦅🦉🦌🐦‍⬛🪶🦦🌾

10/04/2024

Visit with the Bison Herd of the Kankakee Sands Efromyson Preserve within Morocco, IN

From what could be observed on this day, a majority of the herd was located at the watering hole of the habitat section: Featuring mud & water baths, wallowing, and young calves!

8/4/2024 🦬🌾

Please visit our ACCO Wildlife Photography site to view more from our collections!

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

05/19/2024

ACCO is proud to present our "Natural Sciences Museum: Species Resurrected."

The specimens in this collection represent the culmination of my personal journey through husbandry services with captive exotic species, and through the purchasing of ethically collected specimens that represent species I have witnessed and/or learned about in the wild. Specimens pictures are only half of what is in the total collection!

We strive for the intended use of ethical collection of specimens formerly belonging to animal individuals. This means that the specimens were obtained after the animal shed or passed the byproducts while alive and without pain, after they passed away naturally, or through lawful practices. Our goal is to utilize these specimens for educational outreach & demonstrations so that they may act as ambassadors, advocating for their living kin in the world today and inspiring others to have a passion for all wildlife species. In addition, having served for the Field Museum as a volunteer educator, ACCO's goal is to provide an experience for children and adults based on sensory learning/experience. This method proves vital in engagement with the general public and often helps them retain information to a better degree.

Please navigate our website, especially our "ACCO Mission: About us" page to learn more on our intended practices for future demonstrations. We also encourage any critiques or criticism: what do you think? How can we improve our model of ethos? What species would you like to see?
https://www.acco-animal-care-conservation-outreach.com/about-1

We plan to fully launch our program this summer beginning in June! To schedule for demonstrations, message us through our website or DM Mitchell Goodknecht on social platforms! Stay tuned! https://www.acco-animal-care-conservation-outreach.com/

05/16/2024

The endangered Greater Prairie Chickens of "Prairie Ridge State Natural Area" in Newton County, IL were unfortunately elusive this season during my visits to southern IL. Now that I have a better understanding of the precise time range to visit after talking with Wildlife officials of the region like the Gillespie family, I look forward to catching some photography/videography of the species in Spring 2025! The Gillespie's added that anthropogenic climate change has affected the timeframe of when the prairie chickens emerge in the spring in recent years.

April wasn't a total loss though! I was able to photograph a species that I haven't yet seen in IL, the Northern Bobwhite! The photos of the males could be better (hence the AI enhancement) but the female portraits turned out well (because she narrowly avoided my vehicle!). I was also able to see some familiar faces, like Killdeer & Turkey Vultures! Excited for future adventures in southern IL, perfecting the photography of the Bobwhites and someday soon catching better glimpses of the charismatic Greater Prairie Chickens! 🌾🐓

Video below is provided by CBS News and exhibits the males lekking behaviour and dance/booming to attract mates!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTBEGmmqQm0

04/01/2024

Delayed post, but wanted to give recognition where it's due before the month of March concludes: March 16th is recognized as International Macaque Day.
This taxonomic genus of monkeys are widespread throughout various habitats in Asia, India, and Northern Africa, represented with over 20 distinct species. They exhibit special phenotypic traits through adaptation to their ecosystems & lifestyles, including cheek pouches & ischial callosities!

Through personal husbandry experiences, I have been able to work with 3 species so far (common names: Japanese, Bonnet, and Rhesus). My greatest pleasure, has been the privilege to gain extensive expertise working with more than 50 Rhesus Macaque individuals (scientific name: Macaca mulatta). My first encounter with this species, was the taxidermy male specimen in the display case at the Field Museum, that I now walk past every morning on my volunteer shifts. Years ago, I worked with a small feral troop at a local roadside zoo, which is still unfortunately open to the public: much of their troop passed away due to neglectful conditions. While it was a treacherous experience overall, it was both intriguing & haunting to witness these individuals' raw and innate behaviours.

Recently, I have had the grand privilege of providing husbandry to a large M. mulatta troop, with a passionate team of colleagues & friends within the ethical biomedical research industry. M. mulatta shares 93% DNA similarity with human beings, which is why they are heavily researched for various medical detriments, from cancers to neurological illnesses.

Overall, mankind owes a great debt to macaque monkeys, especially Rhesus macaques, for their utilization in biomedical research, just as we do for other animals in lab research.

Stay tuned for the launch of ACCO demonstrations this year, bringing Nature & Wildlife-based educational outreach to the community! We will talk more about Rhesus Macaques as a species, their contributions to science, and even the introduced & invasive populations in the State of FL, USA!

Ethically produced Replica Rhesus Macaque (M. mulatta) skull provided by SkullsUnlimited.com and Bones Clones, Inc.

03/24/2024

Visited part of the Kankakee River State Park region today with my dear friend/colleague (an exceptional and experienced herpetologist) in search of Salamanders. This morning proved to be quite productive!

While searching through a small vernal stream area, we found nearly a dozen Southern Two-lined Salamanders (Eurycea cirrigera). He talked about their life history (reaching maturity around 2-4 yrs), and mentioned how this population represents the northernmost distribution for the species! However, he also noted how in years past through undergraduate studies, he had found more of an abundance around this time of year, and most of the "stream" this session was muddy or dried where snow mealt and rain accumulation would be more evident. It's little changes in the habitat, but anthropogenic (human-related) climate change is a threat and only time will tell how habitats not only on the local scale, but globally, will be affected. For now, we can appreciate this wonderful species, and perhaps there will be opportunities in this community for educational outreach & extensive research to promote their preservation!

Geographic Distribution provided by the iNaturalist App

03/03/2024

We reflect on this World Wildlife Day of all the adventures I've had the great privilege to experience in my life so far, and look forward to new and upcoming adventures! Featured below are adventures ranging from the great prairies of my personal local home of the Midwest U.S., to the wetlands of Louisiana, and to the great coastal desert habitat of Namibia, Africa! Unfortunately today, I am indoors attempting to finish this first part of my Spring semester through Unity Environmental University online, which has been a struggle to say the least. But I encourage you all to go outdoors today, whether somewhere grand or local, and take in the awe of wildlife today!

ACCO - Animal Care Conservation Outreach

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