{"id":362287,"date":"2026-08-04T08:02:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T08:02:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/362287\/"},"modified":"2026-08-04T08:02:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T08:02:08","slug":"meet-captain-the-macaw-and-so-many-more-animals-at-orlando-science-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/362287\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Captain the Macaw and so many more animals at Orlando Science Center"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019ve ever visited the Life exhibit at Orlando Science Center, you might\u2019ve met Captain, our blue-and-yellow macaw. But Captain is no ordinary resident of OSC; he\u2019s an ambassador for conservation! Captain has been a member of the Science Center family since 2017. He plays a significant role in helping guests understand the impact of macaws on their native ecosystems in Central and South America.\n<\/p>\n

Most of the animals in Life live in the exhibit full time, but a few animals also live behind the scenes and act as \u201canimal ambassadors.\u201d They are trained to be more comfortable with human interaction, so visitors can get a little closer, providing a unique opportunity for a personal connection with some of the incredible creatures that share our planet.\n<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

(ROBERTO GONZALEZ\/COURTESY OF ORLANDO SCIENCE CENTER)<\/p>\n

All the ambassador animals participate in programs on a voluntary basis. That means if Captain\u2019s not in the mood to interact, he\u2019s left alone to do his own thing \u2014 and he isn\u2019t shy about sharing how he feels! Captain puts his big voice to use and lets his opinions be known. He\u2019s very intelligent and can solve problems, plus mimic words and phrases.\n<\/p>\n

Macaws play a critical role in conservation and forest regeneration, which is why it\u2019s more important than ever that we spread the word. Macaws are gardeners of the forest because they disperse seeds across landscapes. Seed dispersal helps to maintain healthy forests and results in strong, diverse ecosystems here on Earth.\n<\/p>\n

Sadly, the world\u2019s macaw population is decreasing, with local extinctions of macaws confirmed in parts of Mexico and some Caribbean island populations. This decline signals forests in distress because without the macaws\u2019 important contributions with seed dispersal, their ecosystems weaken. Protecting macaw habitats protects other tropical species that share the same ecosystems.\n<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t miss your opportunity to see one of nature\u2019s most impressive species up close \u2014 along with other ambassador animals \u2014 in the Life exhibit! Trading cards are available for select ambassador animals during Animal Encounters, which take place at 11:00 a.m. in the swamp habitat.\n<\/p>\n

And even better, if you\u2019re an OSC Member, you enjoy unlimited access to the Science Center and can come as often as you want to meet some amazing animals! Get more info and tickets at OSC.org\/visit.\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you\u2019ve ever visited the Life exhibit at Orlando Science Center, you might\u2019ve met Captain, our blue-and-yellow macaw.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":362288,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[139,141,140],"class_list":["post-362287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=362287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362287\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/362288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=362287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=362287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=362287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}