Oatland Island Wildlife Center — Attraction in Wilmington Island

The first time we came on 4/19/19, the Oatland island wildlife center was closed due to the high winds and incoming thunderstorms in the afternoon and impending weather. We didn’t know this until we showed up to the place when the gate was closed and there was a sign stating closed due to impending weather. Tip: look on their website to see if they are open or not before you show up to the place or call them to find out. On 4/20/19, I called the place to confirm if they were open or not after the day before with the horrible thunderstorms and high winds. Plus they were also hit with a tornado as well a few weeks ago. The reason why I called was to make sure they were open before I drove all the way there. The lady on the phone was very polite and friendly stating that they were open and all cleaned up after the storm. So when we showed up, the entrance is very cool by driving through the forest and woods. The admission was a great price, adults were $5 and children were $3. The guy at the booth gave us a map of the place and stated that the fox and the deer were off exhibit ( not on exhibit ). The parking lot was a good size. The welcome center was cool because they had some amphibians in there and some animals. The bathrooms were nice and clean and not dirty or filthy. The staff at the welcome center were nice and polite and friendly and good with the directions if you got lost or something. The staff on the whole property was great and polite. The gift shop was nice and had fair prices as well. The directions for the main trail were explained well. So basically the whole park is a walking trail in the woods and on boardwalks throughout the woods and forest which was pretty cool and fun and nice to walk through! The owls were great and interesting.the alligator were probably one of the best attractions at the place. They had 3 alligators and they were really big ! The one alligator moved into the water. If you don’t see them, look in the pond or under the trees or in the shady spots. The cougar was fun to watch because it was sleeping next to the window. The marsh view cut was nice because you walked through the Everglades and saw a lot of birds 🦅. The bobcat was also cool because it was jumping in the air at the other bobcat because there were two of them and they were playing with each other. Those were my favorite out of all of the wild animals that they had there. The place is worth the admission to go to walk and to see wild animals. This place is great for children as well. The wildlife center has a large variety of wild animals that can not survive in the wild on there own. Overall I would definitely recommend it for anybody who loves animals and for people to walk around to get exercise. Tip: the farm, cougar, wolf, and bobcat exhibits close at 4:00pm meaning they will be brought off exhibit from the crowd. The welcome center and gift shop close at 4:30 and all vehicles must be off the property by 4:45. Tip: get here early to beat the crowd. Hours are they are open every day of the week from 10AM until 4:00PM. Get here at right when they open at 10:00AM. Tip: bring a camera! Overall the place was really fun and interesting and fun to learn new things and worth...

Have visited other parks around the world and in my particular opinion the reason why i graded this one with a medium rate is only based in what i did see and do ( just did the hole circuit on foot, saw no exhibits and didn't see the butterflies ). Most species i saw ( birds and cougar ) were caged and alone ( only 1 of each ) and with very litle space to spend the hole life inside off. Judjing from the space the park has, can't understand why the wire and boundries aren't much larger specially when it comes to birds that are supposed to fly freely or Cougars that are animals that jump very very high and ment to run high speed, and most of all why they are alone! That shouldn't be right not even if they are supposedly rescued animals. The Crocodiles were ok. The foxe(s) and Bobcat (s) didn't even show up . The 2 wolves were sleeping on the opposite side of were we could try to see them and didn't wake up. The Bisonts were 2 and having in consideration they had to be raised in zoos to avoid extinsion , could be ok to have them there, although more space wouldn't hurt since they should be able to run while in the wild. What i really really loved and made my day was the Green Pond with the Balcony. It is just beautiful! If one stays there silently lots of species start to appear and you can even take food out of a coin machin to give to the turtles and the fish. The Highlight of the pond occoured when a Crocodile came swimming right up to us and stood there for several minutes just watching us ! After some minutes another couple came and he just disappeared. It was in my opinion the magical spot...

• TAKE INSECT REPELLENT!!!*

I can not stress this enough, take insect repellent! We are from Alabama and after reading reviews I was sure a couple mosquitoes would be nothing. We are use to them. However, the reviews did not emphasize that there are literally THOUSANDS of tiny mosquitoes that are on steroids. You can't stop for a second without 10 biting you. I'm covered in bites and we didn't stop at any enclosures because of them! That's not this places fault though. I don't blame them a bit, I just wish someone in the reviews had stressed it more so I was more prepared. The welcome center does sell some but I'm not sure how well it works. Okay, now for the review. It's $5 a ticket, $3 student ticket. So, it was $8 for my husband and I and it is WELL worth it. The trail, for the most part, is shady and it's a nice walk. It is a trail though so it's not stroller/wheelchair friendly but it is doable (see attached photos, thats what the trail looks like. Some areas are the wooden boards as well). The animals look healthy though I thought they all looked bored. Most were just laying or sitting there. Nothing for them to do in their enclosure like they would at a zoo and I thought most enclosures were a bit unkempt but there isn't anyone out mowing in the wild so I guess it makes sense. Take plenty of water and slather up in bug spray (honestly, even in 100° heat I would have worn long sleeves and pants had I known about the mosquitoes!!) and have a great time! I would say you could easily spend 1 1/2 to 2 hours here if you are taking your time...