Help support Chintimini Wildlife Center this Giving Season!

Currently, our reptile and invertebrate Education Ambassadors are housed in our Administrative Office (the only temperature-controlled non-rehabilitation space on the property). One of the unfortunate consequences of the Ambassadors being in an office space is that CWC’s Education Team cannot educate visitors about these animals in person during our onsite tours. 

We often bring our Ambassador reptiles and invertebrates to public outreach events, and they allow us to educate in a hands-on way, bringing more people in to learn about wildlife. Getting to educate every tour about our reptile and invertebrate Ambassadors would provide our Ambassadors with more enrichment and provide our community with more education and exposure to different species and the issues they face.

For example, our newest ambassador, Eastern Box Turtle Theia, came to us as after a trafficking attempt of her and 11 other turtles. We intend to educate on the realities and harms of wildlife trafficking, and on the individual and ecosystem level. Education about reptiles and invertebrates is also tied directly to CWC’s Rehabilitation Program, as not everyone knows that our Wildlife Hospital can accept and rehabilitate injured or sick native reptiles, invertebrates, and amphibians. 

In order to do this, CWC is fundraising to build a Reptile and Invertebrate Building on the Wildlife Education area of the property, close to where the new raptor enclosures were completed earlier in 2024. This will help progress CWC’s goal of becoming open to the public and creating a space where the community can visit and learn about all of our Wildlife Ambassadors from our trained volunteers, interns, and staff. In addition, this also helps support CWC’s plans to separate the Wildlife Education and Wildlife Rehabilitation areas of the property for the overall health and safety of both groups of animals. With increased concern about the transmission of zoonotic diseases, reducing the risks of disease transmission is always at the forefront of our minds as stewards of these wonderful Ambassadors.