Kya the Clouded Leopard | Jorja Feldman
“Humorous, educational, and engaging—ten out of ten!” says my grinning thirteen-year-old son about the Creature Conservancy’s weekend open hours programming. He’s not alone. Every time we go to the animal talks, I see people of all ages, especially children, enthralled.
I, for one, did not know that certain types of armadillos can roll up into a perfect sphere, looking remarkably like a Poké Ball. The armadillos were part of a recent “Animals with Superpowers” theme, which also featured the frilled dragon, the African crested porcupine, and Gila monsters.
The monthly themes change, spotlighting different animals each time. “The theme for October is Rainforest Animals, highlighting animals from rainforests around the world,” says Xavier Edwards, president and assistant head curator. October’s featured animals include a two-toed sloth, a green iguana, a Dumeril’s boa, and a red-footed tortoise.
The themes have recently received a glow-up. “We didn’t want our themes to become repetitive over time, both for guests and our staff,” says Edwards, who started rescuing reptiles from the exotic animal pet trade in middle school. The new themes explore connections among animals, including unique adaptations, social behaviors, and the different biomes they inhabit.
As longtime visitors who went to open weekends every month of the year we had a membership, we appreciated the more creative approach. But the best part of the Creature Conservancy has always been feeling like we’re visiting friends, both two- and four-legged.
When Kya the clouded leopard was brought in three years ago, we fawned over how cute she was. Now she’s joined by equally lovable Danny, a male clouded leopard, as part of a nationwide breeding program to prevent this species from going extinct. Harper the cougar came to the Creature Conservancy as a kitten and is often hilariously cranky, except around the people she loves. Every holiday season, Sven the reindeer helps visitors get in the holiday spirit.
My favorites remain the gentle giant tortoises. (The Creature Conservatory even offers tortoise yoga sessions!)
Edwards and founder and head curator Steve Marsh are both regular presenters at the Stone Stage, where the weekend animal talks take place amidst large boulders. More recently, additional wildlife educators have joined them, tag-teaming presentations about featured animals. Their different personalities and presentation styles add variety and help keep even the littlest animal lovers engaged.
Though we’ve been to many open hours, we’d never attended the later, less-crowded Stone Stage program at 4 p.m. We were missing out! We found we had an extra magical and full experience by showing up at 3 p.m. for the Creature Feature, where a staff member talks about one special animal, and then going to see all the animals on display, including colorful iguanas, several large snakes, and an owl, before coming back to the 4 p.m. Stone Stage feature that included three more animals. From there, we walked right over to the habitat of Al the Alligator, the O.G. creature, to watch him get fed as the finale. It was a lively and informative two-hour experience, worth every penny of the price of admission ($15/adult, $13/child over age two).