Ways to Support KNC’s Animal Ambassadors
Animal Ambassador Programs
From Creature Features and Birds of Prey programs to Behind the Scenes of Animal Care, there are a number of exciting public programs at KNC that showcase our Animal Ambassadors.

Adopt an Animal
Symbolically adopting an Animal Ambassador is an exciting way to support KNC’s Animal Ambassador Program and learn more about these amazing animals. Animal adoptions make a great gift!
Become an Animal Ambassador Volunteer
Volunteers in the Animal Ambassadors program will be trained to handle a variety of amphibians, reptiles, and mammals and will assist with regular care. Regular, weekly shifts are required.
Meet the KNC Animal Ambassadors!
Rough-legged Hawk Buteo lagopus
Fudge, a rough-legged hawk, came to KNC in 2021 after suffering a tendon injury that left him partially flighted. Wing injuries, even slight ones, can prevent a bird from successfully surviving in the wild as any impediment to flight reduces a bird’s ability to hunt and migrate.
Rough-legged hawks:
- Have feathers that extend to their toes (hence “rough-legged”), which helps them in their cold Arctic home.
- Weigh the same as Red-tail hawks but have slightly longer wingspans of up to 5 feet.
- Have variable plumage that often includes a dark band across the lower belly or the tip of the tail.
- Incubate their 2-7 eggs for a month, bring food to the young in the nest for a month, and watch over them for another month after they fledge, or leave the nest
What do they eat?
Rough-legged hawks eat mostly small mammals, especially lemmings and voles, but also birds, frogs and insects. They eat about 10% of their body weight each day.
Where do they live?
Rough-legged hawks breed in the northern tundra in Canada and Eurasia, with their population fluctuating based on availability of tundra prey. Their nests are normally found on cliffs or sometimes on the ground and may include caribou bones. They raise their young under a sun that never sets, and are inactive for a six-hour stretch each day. In the winter they migrate south, where they frequent open fields.
Rough-legged Hawk Buteo lagopus
Fudge, a rough-legged hawk, came to KNC in 2021 after suffering a tendon injury that left him partially flighted. Wing injuries, even slight ones, can prevent a bird from successfully surviving in the wild as any impediment to flight reduces a bird’s ability to hunt and migrate.
Rough-legged hawks:
- Have feathers that extend to their toes (hence “rough-legged”), which helps them in their cold Arctic home.
- Weigh the same as Red-tail hawks but have slightly longer wingspans of up to 5 feet.
- Have variable plumage that often includes a dark band across the lower belly or the tip of the tail.
- Incubate their 2-7 eggs for a month, bring food to the young in the nest for a month, and watch over them for another month after they fledge, or leave the nest
What do they eat?
Rough-legged hawks eat mostly small mammals, especially lemmings and voles, but also birds, frogs and insects. They eat about 10% of their body weight each day.
Where do they live?
Rough-legged hawks breed in the northern tundra in Canada and Eurasia, with their population fluctuating based on availability of tundra prey. Their nests are normally found on cliffs or sometimes on the ground and may include caribou bones. They raise their young under a sun that never sets, and are inactive for a six-hour stretch each day. In the winter they migrate south, where they frequent open fields.