Our History

An abandoned alligator was the catalyst that led to the establishment of The Creature Conservancy. One morning in August 2005, Steve Marsh (our founder and head curator) discovered a wooden box containing a 42-inch long American alligator that was left on the doorstep of the nearby veterinary clinic. Based on the health of the alligator, it was most likely a well-cared for pet whose owner was no longer able to care for it. Upon lengthy discussions with local and state animal rescue organizations, it became apparent that exotic animals, like this alligator, are often re-homed or abandoned due to various factors such as the difficulty and expense of care, impending moves to areas where the animal cannot be housed, and lifestyle changes. Since the discovery of “Al” the alligator, The Creature Conservancy has grown in both size and scope. We currently provide homes to more than 400 individual animals from roughly 100 different species. These animals are former exotic pets, injured non-releasable wildlife, or animals that we acquired from USDA-approved establishments to become educational ambassadors.

Animal Care

Our animals represent their species to our visitors, and we carefully adhere to the five freedoms of animal welfare to ensure that they are healthy and comfortable doing so. The animals that live at The Creature Conservancy receive the highest quality nutrition and their diets are regularly monitored by our staff under the guidance of veterinarians. Our animals live in safe environments that are designed with their physical and mental health in mind. Animal Kingdom Veterinary Hospital generously provides low cost (and often free) veterinary care to all our animals to ensure that they are healthy and robust. Finally, we have professional animal behavioral staff on our team to see that the animals feel safe, comfortable, and have plenty of enrichment opportunities to engage their minds.

Programming

With “Conservation Through Education” as our goal, our weekdays are spent providing summer camps for kids, school field trips, as well as onsite and offsite visits. On the weekends, we are open to the public and feature different educational presentations on our Stone Stage each month. Visitors at our weekend Open Hours get a more close-up view of our animals and have plenty of opportunities to speak directly with our zookeepers, which is something that makes us unique. We also provide fun, interactive programming events throughout the year for people of all ages. No matter what kind of program we offer, an educational component is always incorporated to provide our visitors with an impactful experience.