Brookgreen Gardens

Help us as we move and renovate our zoo clinic this August!

Having a clinic on-site at Brookgreen is very important for the health and well-being of our animals. We are getting ready to expand our clinic facilities and move it closer to the Lowcountry Zoo. The shorter the distance an animal has to travel to be treated, the better for that animal.  The relocated and renovated zoo clinic will also centralize all the behind the scenes operations of our Lowcountry Zoo. 

In honor of  Brookgreen's 88th Birthday (July 13th), we would like to raise $8,800.00 to help fund the move and renovation.  Funds over the target goal will allow us to purchase supplies for the clinic and for our zoo keepers.

"Owl be there for you, will you be there for me?"

Brookgreen is very fortunate to have Dr. Sharon Jansky of Ark Animal Hospital as our zoo veterinarian. She comes to our onsite clinic to perform annual checkups on our animals, to care for the ailing, administer vaccinations and even do "field" calls.  Being able to have treatment on-site greatly decreases the stress to the animals.  



More information about Brookgreen Gardens: Since its founding in 1931, by Archer and Anna Hyatt Huntington, Brookgreen Gardens has been a cultural center for our community. We hope residents and visitors will take pride in the fact that in their midst is one of America's premier gardens and one of a few select places in the United States to have earned accreditation from the American Association of Museums and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, as well as being designated a National Historic Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

One of the missions of Brookgreen Gardens is to support the preservation of our native wildlife. We do this through our active wildlife education and conservation programs.

As part of the conservation program, Brookgreen's Native Wildlife Zoo participates in an Association of Zoos and Aquariums managed breeding program (SSP-Species Survival Program ) with North American River Otters. As part of the program we need to ship otters back and forth with other zoos. Otters are evaluated each year and breeding recommendations result, moving the best male or female together to guarantee the best gene diversity for the offspring.

We have been lucky to have had some valuable animals in this program. As cute as otters look, it is deceiving--they have teeth like a chain saw! We've tried plastic dog crates, had special wood crates built and have not had success shipping otters by air. We would love to add this custom made, all- aluminum, secure crate to our inventory for all future otter moves. It meets IATA (International Air Transport Association-Live Animal Regulations) guidelines so we can move our otters easily and safely from one zoo to another. This crate is "otter-tested" and will be in service for years.  

Our next scheduled otter "date" is coming up in April, so we need to get this crate ordered as soon as possible. The world needs more adorable baby otters!

Brookgreen Gardens is a registered 501 (c) 3 organization. Your donation is tax deductible.