Oatland Island Wildlife Center is one of those gems in Savannah that isn't talked about as much as I think it should be. While there are plenty of beautiful and interesting locations to explore in downtown, I feel like because Savannah has such a large industry in tourism, that many of the lesser known locations get overlooked, even when they have a lot to offer. Oatland Island is one of them.
Oatland Island Wildlife Center is a zoo-like preserve, sitting on 100 acres and housing 150 animals with more than 40 different species, ranging from wolves to alligators, and up until recently, a cougar as well, who unfortunately passed away this past November. They also have a number of nature trails that link its exhibits together that also lead to a pond, a marsh boardwalk, and a couple of historic log cabin sites. In addition to their animal exhibits and trails, Oatland Island also has educational programs for children and several nature trails to explore. Their mission statement is to "provide guests with memorable experiences to help them make stronger connections to the natural world."[2]
I feel like Oatland Island has succeeded in that mission statement, at least for me, because I have some very fond memories there. When I was a kid, I would occasionally visit there with my family to hike its trails and admire the animals there. Seeing a wolf or cougar in person as a young boy was such a cool experience, especially because many of these exhibits allow you to get up close to the animals, leaving only a layer of glass between you and them I also attended two theatre summer camps there when I was a kid. These summer camps were day camps and basically structured into two halves. The first half of the day we would go on trails, learn about animals, and do arts and crafts. Afterwards we would eat lunch and the remaining hours were spent rehearsing a play that we would perform at the end of the camp.
The first summer camp I spent there, we put on a play based on Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, in which I played as Doc. The second camp we put on a production of Alice in Wonderland and I was the White Rabbit. I particularly remember performing as the latter because of my costume. Originally, I was going to wear a rabbit head mask, but it was too difficult for me to see in while I was moving. So instead, I wore a white fluffy eye mask, a rather hot bunny suit equipped with a pocket watch, rabbit ears, and rabbit nose mask with whiskers. I had so much fun hopping around onstage and rapidly saying my lines- "I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date! Oh me, oh my, I'm late, I'm late!"
Here are some additional pictures to give you a better idea of the wildlife found at Oatland Island. If you're ever in Savannah, I highly recommend you check it out, especially if you have children! I really enjoyed my experiences there as a kid and they really helped me better appreciate wildlife and nature at a young age.
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