The newest residents at The Wonder Gardens in Bonita Springs have the entire facility squawking. On Thursday, Aug. 28, Wonder Gardens team members revealed a new enclosure featuring Ivy and Mae, two rescued female American river otters from Louisiana.
"So this is the grand opening of our new Otter Grotto exhibit, as well as our new vivarium featuring baby alligators," said Kaitlyn Henry, director of living collections. "This is the pretty big moment in Wonder Gardens' history. It's the first time mammals have come back into the park since the nonprofit took over back in 2013. So a very exciting time for us."
Henry said the exhibit and acquisition of the otters and baby gators has taken four years. It’s part of an overall project that began after the historic roadside attraction became a public-private partnership with the City of Bonita Springs, she said.
It was Hurricane Ian that made the new exhibits possible, said Henry. "We had to rebuild from the hurricane. And we were able to get started back on the process with the otter exhibit. And then, you know, moving forward, it was a little bit easier."
The otter exhibit was made possible with a $300,000 donation from Robert and Deborah Blain. The enclosure is surrounded by a vinyl fence with glass so visitors can see the otters play in their pool and waterfall.
A habitat featuring juvenile American alligators also was unveiled at Thursday's event. The exhibit is called the Dorothy Guigon Vivarium, named after the funder. The gators are named Jessie and James.
"We are thrilled to introduce our two baby gators to the Wonder Gardens, and we are so grateful to Dorothy Guigon for making this possible," said Neil Anderson, president and CEO of Wonder Gardens. "Alligators are a natural part of life here in Florida, but many people never get the chance to see them up close in a safe setting."
These exhibits are part of the Renew the Wonder project to improve the the nonprofit zoological park and botanical garden.
"We've got a number of projects right now that are being worked on," said Anderson. "And we'll be unveiling them in the near future. A lot of exciting projects, because we know it's a special place. We're going to be celebrating 90 years next year. But all the plans here are designed to, you know, kind of modernize it, but keep that old Florida theme."
Anderson says the best part about the new otter exhibit is that visitors will be able to see the otters up close.
"People love to see otters. Love to see them play, you know, and I'll say, this is, you know, otters are one of the few animals that play when they're adults. And that's something that is really enjoyable for us to kind of watch and experience. But it gets us a little bit more connected. So I think people feel a little bit more connected to animals like this."
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