Author: nsadmin

KultureCity has partnered with the Western North Carolina Nature Center to make the Nature Center a sensory-inclusive space. This new initiative will promote an accommodating and positive experience for all guests with sensory issues who visit the wildlife park.

The certification process entailed the staff at the WNC Nature Center being trained by leading medical professionals on how to recognize those guests with sensory needs and how to handle a sensory overload situation. Sensory bags, equipped with noise canceling headphones, fidget tools, and verbal cue cards will also be available to borrow for free to all guests at the Nature Center who may feel overwhelmed by the environment.

Sensory sensitivities or challenges with sensory regulation are often experienced by individuals with autism, dementia, PTSD, and other similar conditions. One of the major barriers for these individuals is sensitivity to over-stimulation and noise, which is a part of the environment in a venue like the WNC Nature Center. With its new certification, the Nature Center is now better prepared to assist guests with sensory sensitivities in having the most comfortable and accommodating experience possible when attending the wildlife park that focuses on species native to the Southern Appalachian Mountains.

Beginning July 22, 2019, families can download the free KultureCity App to view what sensory features are available and where they can access them prior to attending the park. The App also provides a Social Story which previews what to expect while visiting the WNC Nature Center.

To celebrate this new partnership with KultureCity, the WNC Nature Center will be hosting a Sensory Inclusion Event on Saturday, August 3. Guests with sensory sensitivities and their families will be able enter the park an hour early at 9:00am for self-guided exploration of the park. Beginning at 10:00am, the park will open to the public and will continue to offer animal programs, learning activities, games, and a sensory room in Education Center for guests with sensory needs until 1:00pm.

“To know that you soon will be able to see families attend the wildlife park, a true community binding experience, with their loved ones who have a sensory challenge and who were not able to previously attend, is truly a heartwarming moment. Our communities are what shapes our lives and to know that the Western North Carolina Nature Center is willing to go the extra mile to ensure that everyone, no matter their ability, is included in their community is amazing.” Dr. Julian Maha, Co-Founder, KultureCity.

KultureCity is a leading non-profit recognized nationwide for using their resources to revolutionize and effect change in the community for those with sensory needs; not just those with Autism. Since the program’s inception, KultureCity has created over 200 sensory inclusive venues, including the NC Zoo and the WNC Nature Center.

February 14, 2019 was a red letter day for the Nature Center. The long awaited reveal of the new red panda habitat culminated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony with Mayor Esther Manheimer and Friends of the WNC Nature Center Board President Nora Carpenter.Leafa and Phoenix received a warm welcome that day, and a record-setting 1,800 guests visited them the following Saturday!The red pandas are the first species to be introduced to the Nature Center’s new Prehistoric Appalachia project. Skeletal remains of the red panda’s close cousin, the now extinct Bristol’s panda, were discovered at the Gray Fossil Site in Tennessee and are estimated to be 5 million years old. Red pandas are currently endangered with several thousand individuals remaining in the wild. The WNC Nature Center red pandas are part of the Species Survival Program (SSP) associated with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).You can keep showing the love to Leafa and Phoenix by purchasing red panda merchandise in the Nature Center gift shop or symbolically adopting them (dev.wildwnc.org/adopt-an-animal).To support Leafa and Phoenix and their ongoing care at the WNC Nature Center, go to fundly.com/bringing-red-panda-to-asheville.

The WNC Nature Center’s much anticipated red panda exhibit will open to the public on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2019!

Our pair of red pandas came to the WNC Nature Center from the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. The female, Leafa, is ten years old and the male, Phoenix, is seven. The two have lived together and had offspring in the past. They are currently settling into their new home at the WNC Nature Center, out of view from the public.

In order for the pair’s transition to be as smooth as possible, the Center has decided to give the red pandas a maximum amount of time to adjust to their new home without being seen by the public. “We want them to have plenty of time to acclimate to their new surroundings,” said new Nature Center Animal Curator Erin Oldread. “The next couple months will be a time for settling in, getting to know daily routines, and creating relationships with our staff members who will be caring for them. They are playful and curious and already doing great,” said Oldread.

Leafa and Phoenix will, no doubt, be much loved by Western NC residents and visitors. The Friends of the WNC Nature Center has recently announced new giving opportunities that support the red panda habitat and give donors a change to see them up close.

For $250, donors will receive 2 tickets to the soft opening of the red panda exhibit in early February. For a truly memorable, once-in-a-lifetime experience, a $1,000 donation will allow the donor and up to 3 guests to have a private red panda encounter! Five out of ten of the 2019 private encounter opportunities were reserved in the first 48 hours following the announcement on social media. Oldread has carefully limited these special experiences to ensure the panda’s best interests and red panda caregivers will precisely control each encounter.

Symbolic red panda adoptions start at $25. Guests to the Center can also support the red pandas through the purchase of red panda merchandise at the Nature Center gift shop. Fundraising for the red panda exhibit and animal care is ongoing and donations of any size are appreciated.

The red pandas are the first species to be introduced to the Nature Center’s new Prehistoric Appalachia project, part of the Center’s 2020 Wild Vision. Skeletal remains of the red panda’s close cousin, the now extinct Bristol’s panda, were discovered at the Gray Fossil Site in Tennessee and are estimated to be 5 million years old. Red pandas are currently endangered with several thousand individuals remaining in the wild. The WNC Nature Center red pandas will be part of the Species Survival Program (SSP) associated with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). The Nature Center is proud to be among just 10% of zoos in the nation to be accredited through AZA.

Most of the funding for the red panda exhibit is coming from the Friends of the WNC Nature Center, a nonprofit organization that has provided funds for capital projects and other needs at the Nature Center for over 40 years. Recent projects funded by the Friends include the Outreach Education Program, which has served over 9,000 people in the past year. The Friends are also donated over $700,000 toward the Center’s newly opened Front Entrance, raised through contributions by the Asheville Tourism Development Authority, Festiva and many gracious donors.

To support the red pandas, go to fundly.com/bringing-red-panda-to-asheville.

The red wolves at the WNC Nature Center have long been a part of the important Species Survival Plan (SSP) program through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Through this program, the WNC Nature Center has proudly seen thirteen red wolf pups born into our care.

The SSP program is designed to assist in conservation and ensure the long-term sustainability of animal populations like the red wolf. This work is critical to the red wolf, whose number in the wild have dwindled below 50 animals. Due to this extremely small wild population, the red wolf is considered scientifically extinct in the wild. It is now up to conservation programs like the SSP to ensure that the red wolf species has a future.

Red wolves, Van and Rozene, have recently left the WNC Nature Center for Fossil Rim Nature Center in Glen Rose, Texas. This transition was recommended by the SSP program since Van and Rozene have not yet successfully bred together. We’re hopeful that a change of scenery might help them to be successful. Van was born here at the WNC Nature Center in 2012 and Rozene came here in 2015 from Missouri.

Red wolves Karma and Garnet recently arrived at the WNC Nature Center. Karma transitioned here from Chehaw Park in Albany, Georgia, where she was born. Garnet came from Reflection Riding Nature Center in Chattanooga, Tennessee. They are both three years old. We are hopeful that they will be a successful breeding pair and that we could soon welcome more red wolf pups at the WNC Nature Center!

This important work will contribute to the future of the red wolf. For more information about red wolves, check out this educational video.

The WNC Nature Center welcomes the public to a short dedication event for the Center’s new front entrance, completed in September.  The dedication will take place on Thursday, November 1, 2018 at 12 p.m. Representatives from the City of Asheville, Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority, WNC Nature Center, and Friends of the WNC Nature Center will be present.

“We’re excited to offer this enhanced guest experience to our visitors,” said Chris Gentile, Director of the WNC Nature Center. “The new front entrance will allow us to better serve our growing number of guests with smoother check in, enhanced parking, a separate entrance for school groups and the use of the Festiva Event Plaza for events.”

The City of Asheville broke ground on the front entrance at the WNC Nature Center in 2017. Improvements include handicapped parking and ramp, sidewalks through the parking area for safety, new guest restrooms, an events plaza, and new exhibits. Guests will now be able to enter the Center’s main grounds through the barn area where they can visit the new chicken habitat, Virginia the opossum, and more.

This project was funded in part by the City of Asheville, and by the Friends of the WNC Nature Center, with support from the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority’s Tourism Product Development Fund, and from Festiva. Other contributors to the project include charitable foundations, businesses, and individual donors.

As the vacationers of the animal world make their yearly migrations this autumn, one species has a new place to visit on their way south.  The Nature Center has a newly certified conservation station for the farthest flying butterflies in the world.

Monarch butterflies weigh less than a postage stamp yet travel up to three thousand miles.  The last generation of each season journeys from the Eastern U.S. and Canada to Mexico.  This trip is crucial to their survival and they need places to get fuel along the way.  The Nature Center’s newly certified Monarch Waystation offers adult monarchs plants with nectar for feeding and milkweed plants for the caterpillars to eat.

Monarch Waystations are a means for citizens to help monarchs.  Anyone with a little land can build one of these gardens to provide food for this iconic species. Monarchwatch.org has all the information needed to create a Waystation and you can visit ours in front of the log cabin.  We had 35 monarch caterpillars in our Waystation this year that grew to adulthood.  The caterpillars grow approximately 2,700 times their original weight before making a chrysalis!  Once our monarchs emerged as adults, they headed toward Mexico.  Bon voyage!

The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) announced that the Western North Carolina Nature Center has been recognized with AZA’s 2018 Education Award for significant achievement in the “Expanding Impact through Targeted Low Income Outreach Education” program. The national award was received during AZA’s September conference in Seattle.

The AZA Education Award recognizes outstanding achievement in educational program design, judging programs on their ability to promote conservation knowledge, attitudes and behavior, show innovation, and measure success.

The Nature Center staff, along with the Friends of the WNC Nature Center, developed the Targeted Low Income Outreach Education program in response to growing demand from the community.  Low-income schools, Head Start locations, retirement centers, after-school programs, libraries, and others stated admissions fees and travel logistics/costs were too high to make a WNC Nature Center visit possible.

“Education at AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums is marked by a sharing of scientific discovery and a love of nature,” said AZA President and CEO Dan Ashe. “WNC Nature Center is a leader in conservation education; with its immersive outreach initiative instilling among its participants what Rachel Carson called, ‘a sense of wonder.’”

“We do outreach as a service to our community.  It’s a way to share our mission and educational goals with people who can’t come to us,” said WNC Nature Center Director Chris Gentile. “Over the last two years, we’ve learned the number of people who can’t visit our site is greater than we originally thought.  This year, we’re looking to reach around 10,000 students, preschools, retirees, and other community members.”

This program is led by a Friends of the WNC Nature Center staff member, Tori Duval, who works collaboratively with the Nature Center. The Friends of the WNC Nature Center raises the funds for this program through private donations and grants.

To learn more about AZA’s Honors and Awards, please visit aza.org/honors-awards.

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of one of our most well-known and cherished residents.

Pisgah, an 8-year-old Western cougar, passed away on Thursday morning (September 27, 2018) after a period of declining health.  Diagnosed with kidney failure several years ago, the disease had recently progressed and was no longer responding to treatment by Nature Center health care staff.

Pisgah was one of two cougars that came to the Nature Center after being rescued in Grants Pass, Oregon. They joined the Nature Center family in May 2011 and were named through a community contest.

“We received Pisgah and his brother Mitchell as very young cubs from the Oregon Zoo in Portland.  They have been a joy to watch as they grew to adulthood. It is a sad day for us here at the Nature Center.” said WNC Nature Center Director Chris Gentile.  “Despite his prognosis, our dedicated staff worked tirelessly to make him comfortable, especially these past few weeks as his health rapidly declined.   He will be missed by not only our team but the entire community.”

UPDATE (October 29, 2018) : In just one month’s time, Mitchell, Pisgah’s brother at the WNC Nature Center, is settling in to being on his own. His caretakers are keeping a close eye on him and say he is doing well.

In the wild, cougars live on their own. Mitchell’s caretakers foresee him successfully transitioning to a single cat mindset and lifestyle.

To help Mitchell adjust, the Friends of the WNC Nature Center crowdfunded a weeble enrichment item for him. This weeble is specifically made for large animals like Mitchell. It teeters and totters but doesn’t fall over. The weeble will add a wonderful enrichment item to Mitchell’s habitat at the WNC Nature Center. Thank you for supporting Mitchell!

The Board of the Friends of the WNC Nature Center is excited to introduce Karen Babcock, our new Executive Director! Karen has a long history of nonprofit leadership, serving recently at the director level within Folkmoot and Maryland’s Ladew Topiary Gardens. The Friends’ is dedicated to providing the resources to support high quality growth of the WNC Nature Center and its efforts to educate the public about the natural history and ecology of the Southern Appalachians. We’re thrilled to have Karen here to help lead us on this mission!

From Karen Babcock:

They asked me, “If you could be any animal, which would it be?” Immediately I shot back, “Timber rattlesnake.” Not your typical response, I found out later. But it was my first choice because Timber rattlers are amazing. It’s the only snake I’ve watched in my backyard that moves like a four-legged predator (or maybe the four-legged critters move like a rattlesnake). They exude power and control and mastery of their environment. I’d love to see the world from their vantage point (and watch all the scurrying humans!).

So my employment interview concluded, and I must have said something right, as I am here writing this to you now. I have worked in nonprofit leadership for the majority of my career. Most recently I served as executive director for the Waynesville-based Folkmoot USA. I developed relationships with elected officials, donors and community members to increase fundraising and facilitated a $1.3 million facility gift to the organization. Prior to moving to Western North Carolina, I was associate director and public relations director for Maryland’s Ladew Topiary Gardens. I managed the Nature Walk at Ladew, created a corporate sponsorship program, rebranded the organization, and served as curator for the historic house and collections. A master’s degree in Human Resource Development has provided me substantial tools for developing organizations.

It is with great anticipation that I look forward to serving and saving the wildlife of Western North Carolina. With the WNC Nature Center as a spectacular resource for all of us, we can make a difference—from understanding the perspective of snakes to preserving the critically endangered Red Wolf.

I am truly grateful for the opportunity to meet you and your families as we work together to educate our communities about the wonders in our backyards.

A new adult Common Snapping Turtle is now living at the Nature Center – meet Hazel! Hazel was found injured (likely from a car) in Watauga County. The May Wildlife Rehabilitation Center took her in last June and spent a full year helping her recover from shell and jaw fractures among other injuries. Part of her recovery even included receiving acupuncture on a regular basis!

Hazel has healed but is unable to live on her own in the wild because she does not have full range of motion in her jaw (she can only open it about an inch) and only has sight in one eye. We are excited to welcome Hazel to her new home at the Nature Center! We think she’s about ten years old based on her size (she weighs 15 pounds!). Hazel is not yet full grown and could easily get larger in time. She is living in our turtle pond area next to the otter habitat. Next time you’re here, stop by and say hi to Hazel!