Education
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Falconry
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Birds of Prey
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Common Sense Conservation
Our free flight demonstrations of raptors and falconry have educated and entertained audiences in Texas and beyond since 1978. John Karger first created The Royal Falconer for audiences at renaissance festivals to raise funds for LCF's rehabilitation work. Today, when John is not appearing as the Royal Falconer at Scarborough Faire he may be found amazing audiences in the modern age at events from TPWD to the Minnesota State Fair.
Standing Room Only at the MN State Fair
We present more than 350 programs about raptors, falconry and conservation reaching over 250,000 people annually. We present to all grade levels at schools, before civic organizations, rotary clubs, state wildlife agencies, botanical gardens, zoological parks, universities, museums and more. We encourage aid to all wildlife while focusing on birds of prey; we explain how they are an important part of nature's checks and balances, and that they are important indicator species. Indicator species indicate the quality of the environment we all live in today and are indicators for the future of our species.
While our shows are entertaining our primary purpose is education. To that end, every one of our shows stress our need to understand our natural world, the place of raptors in that world and our connection to them. We stress the importance of common-sense conservation regarding the earth and its natural resources.
We offer a variety of educational opportunities. The common-sense environmental messages conveyed are appropriate for all age groups and also follow school curriculum guidelines. Flying, non-flying static demonstrations, and slide-based informational talks are available to accommodate a variety of audiences. Presentations can be designed for small, indoor gatherings and/or large outdoor events.
Free Flying Hawk
Static Demonstration: a classroom or small group demonstration using photographs, natural biofacts, articles of falconry equipment, and live raptor ambassadors. Topics highlighted include rehabilitation techniques, natural history of raptors, ecological awareness, and conservation measures. Static displays can be arranged to extend from 45 minutes to several hours in length.
Flying Demonstration: an interactive exhibition that incorporates staff members and flying and non-flying raptors. Knowledge of basic raptor biology and natural behaviors, insights into the plight of the natural world and the human effects in the balance of living things is shared in a conservation-themed program. The flying demonstration is approximately one hour in length; the length can be tailored to your needs.
Visual Presentation: a general history of the work of Last Chance Forever and local raptor species. Within this program, the whats, whys, and hows of identifying local species, the reasons birds come to the facility, and the basic steps in preparing birds to be released back into the wild will be explained.
Last Chance Forever educational programming seeks to inspire an interest in, and awareness of, the natural world which we share with all living things. It is our goal to offer an exciting and educational experience that introduces participants to common sense conservation.
For more information concerning our educational programs, please contact program coordinator Kelly Rayner at 210-499-4080 Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. Programs may be tailored to individual groups' needs.