Piedmont Wildlife Center facts for kids
The Piedmont Wildlife Center is a special non-profit group in Durham, North Carolina, USA. They teach people about nature and work to protect wild animals and their homes.
| 501(c)(3) organization - Outdoor Education | |
| Founded | 2003 |
| Headquarters |
Durham, North Carolina
|
|
Area served
|
Triangle Area of North Carolina |
|
Key people
|
Executive Director - Karen McCall |
Contents
What is the Piedmont Wildlife Center's Goal?
The Piedmont Wildlife Center wants to help everyone love nature for their whole lives. They also want people to get involved in protecting animals and plants. They do this by teaching about nature, helping young leaders grow, and studying how to save wildlife.
Where is the Piedmont Wildlife Center?
The Piedmont Wildlife Center started in 2003. Their office is inside Leigh Farm Park, a large city park in South Durham. You can find their main office and outdoor areas for viewing birds of prey in a cozy log cabin.
What Does the Piedmont Wildlife Center Do?
The Piedmont Wildlife Center offers fun nature programs for kids, teens, and adults. These programs are in the Triangle Region of North Carolina. You get to learn by doing, with activities like:
- Learning old survival skills
- Studying local plants and animals
- Understanding how to protect nature
- Developing leadership skills
Their programs are inspired by a teaching style called Coyote Mentoring. This method helps people connect deeply with nature.
The center also works on important projects to protect wildlife. They want to learn more about the different kinds of plants and animals living in the greater Piedmont area. This helps them protect local species and their natural homes.
Why is Studying Local Wildlife Important?
Leigh Farm Park, where the Piedmont Wildlife Center is located, is a very important natural area. It connects different ecosystems across the Piedmont region. This means it acts like a highway for wildlife, allowing animals to move safely across central North Carolina.
The park and nearby areas have five main types of habitats:
- Forests near rivers (bottomland hardwood forest)
- Forests on higher ground (upland hardwood forest)
- Pine tree forests
- Wet, forested areas (forested wetlands)
- Open fields
When natural areas get broken up, it's called habitat fragmentation. This is a big problem for wildlife. To help protect these habitats, the Piedmont Wildlife Center works with scientists and volunteers. They are currently studying all the different plants and animals living in Leigh Farm Park.
In the past, they have used methods like:
- Tracking animal footprints
- Setting up trail cameras to take pictures of animals
- Using GPS and GIS software to map animal movements
The main goal of this ongoing study is to understand the current health of nature in the park. This information then helps the center create better education programs. These programs teach people how to support and protect the amazing variety of life in the Piedmont area.
