North Florida Wildlife Center welcomes new arrivals

Baby zebra, albino wallaby, exotic birds to live at the center

Ashley Hunter
ECB Publishing, Inc.

The North Florida Wildlife Center (NFWC), formerly known as the Wildlife Conservation Center (WCC), has seen plenty of growth within the last few weeks!

With new habitats being built, volunteers putting in long hours, tours being conducted for visitors and the center’s outreach growing and expanding, several new furry faces have been added to the growing family.
Ryan David Reines, the owner and director of the NFWC, has kept fans updated on the center’s progress through social media, where he has introduced several of the newest additions to the center’s ever-growing list of exotic, endangered and protected species.

In early March, the NFWC introduced Seze the Bar-Pouched Wreathed Hornbill and Mungi the albino Bennett’s Wallaby joey.

According to Reines, Seze (meaning “Blue Flower” in Na’vi) and Mungi (meaning “Lightning” in Australian Aborigine) will both be animal ambassadors for the center, meaning their primary role at the center will be to educate visitors about their species and the issues that their species are facing.

While not considered endangered, Mungi is an albino - a genetic condition that causes a lack of pigmentation; this means Mungi’s fur is white, and his eyes appear red.

Bennett Wallabies are native to coastal and forested areas of eastern Australia as well as Tasmania, and can be found on several Tasmanian islands.

Instead of being endangered, Bennett’s Wallabies have seen a population expansion over the last 30 years, due to a reduction in hunting and an increase in forest clearing which has allowed the wallabies to have more pasture-land for feeding.

Mungi, who is still a joey, was born in a private facility that is located in Central Florida.
Bar-Pouched Wreathed Hornbills, such as Seze, are not currently endangered - but due to population declines over the last several years, the exotic bird species is currently being monitored in case numbers dip too low.
Seze’s species is native to India, Bhutan, the mainland of Southeast Asia as well as parts of The Greater Sundas, in Indonesia.

Seze was raised in a private aviary that is located in Orlando.
In Mid-March, the center introduced another new addition to the family - Thabo, a Plains Zebra foal.
His name means “Joy” in the Zulu language and is pronounced as “Tabo.”

Thabo is only a month old, and is already beginning his work as an animal ambassador for the NFWC.
Plains Zebra are considered near-threatened, due to hunting, competition with livestock and farmland pushing the zebra out of their natural habitats.

In many areas and game reserves, zebra herds continue to have a strong foothold, but other countries that once boasted hearty herds are seeing sharp declines in zebra populations and, in 2016, Plains Zebra were classified as near-threatened.

Thabo was born in a private breeding facility located in Central Florida.
In early April, the NFWC added three new additions to their facility: two Brush-Tailed Bettongs and a Long Tailed Hornbill named Einstien.

The two bettongs are a breeding pair and were brought to the NFWC from the North Georgia Zoo. The two will be helping further their incredibly rare breed by leading the Bettongs breeding program at the NFWC.
Brush-Tailed Bettongs (also called Woylies) are native to regions of Australia and are critically endangered, with one of the subspecies already being classified as extinct.

During the mid-19th century, bettongs could be found over most of the Australian mainland, but by the 1930s, they had practically vanished.

An assortment of causes is believed to have contributed to the bettongs’ endangerment, such as the introduction of new predators such as red foxes and feral cats, competition with grazing animals, the introduction of European rabbits to Australia and changes to fire regimes that burnt portions of the bettongs’ habitats.

By the 1970s, the species was considered endangered and now, the NFWC will be doing its part to bring the breed back.
Einstein the Long-Tailed Hornbill arrived in early April as well, and will - like many of the other animals - be a part of the center’s animal ambassador program.

Long-Tailed Hornbills (also called White-Crested Hornbills) are not particularly endangered but are a part of the African ecosystem and are not commonly recognized.
Einstien, with his large white “puff” of feathers on his head, will help visitors to the center learn more about the less-recognizable species that make up the birds of the world.

Einstien came to the NFWC from a private aviary that is located on Sanibel Island, off Florida’s coast.
With these additions, the animal count at the NFWC has come to over 50, and the center is dedicated to providing a quality and happy life to every animal in its care.

For those interested in supporting the non-profit conservation center, donations can be made to paypal.com/ nfwctally.
All donations go towards the feeding, housing and care of the animals.