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!