Peace River Wildlife Center & Ponce De Leon Park

Tucked neatly into the mangroves overlooking Charlotte Harbor at Ponce de Leon Park, the Peace River Wildlife Center (PRWC) is a non-profit organization

Started in 1978, dedicated to the rescue, care, protection and preservation of native small wildlife. Originally confined to the lanai of one of its founders, the center quickly gained credibility and a new location as citizens learned of its successes in wildlife rehabilitation. Since its beginnings the wildlife center has treated over one hundred thousand birds and small animals, offering a high level of skilled care by trained and permitted wildlife rehabilitation specialists with years of experience in treating native fauna disease and trauma. The Peace River Wildlife Center is a member of both the International and Florida Wildlife Rehabilitation Councils, the FWRA, NWRA and the IWRC. We are Licensed and Overseen by the US Department of Agriculture and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Comission.

Currently, the center admits about 2,000 clients anually, a number that has increased every year since the center's founding. If a bird or small animal cannot be returned to its native habitat after treatment and recovery but is otherwise healthy, it becomes a permanent resident of the center or another federally and state approved facility. Right now, the center has almost 200 permanent residents. All of the permanent residents are available for viewing by the public in attractive, spacious aviaries and habitats, suggestive of their native environments. Among the birds available for viewing are Eagles, Hawks, Owls, Ospreys, Sandhill Cranes, Pelicans, Herons, Gulls, Terns, Cormorants, Songbirds, Crows and Vultures. The costs involved to display them for public viewing is nearly $75,000 per year just to feed the almost 200 permanent residents.

Mission Statement

The Peace River Wildlife Center is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to the care, preservation and protection of Charlotte County's native wildlife.

THE MISSION of the Peace River Wildlife Center is to treat and rehabilitate injured and orphaned native Florida wildlife (except venomous snakes) and, if possible, to return them to the wild.

Tours

We are open to the public and Tours are offered from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. 7 days a week and are provided at no cost to visitors. We depend upon private donations for our existence. Whether you're visiting for the first, second or tenth time, there's always something new to behold in the grace of the animals who now reside permanently at the center. If you'd like a guided tour, they're given regularly throughout the day. If you would prefer to walk through at your leisure, a volunteer will get you started and remain accessible to answer questions you may have. We also provide School, Camp, and Church group tours, please call the office for an appointment (so a tour guide can be specifically assigned to the large group.) Although We are open year round including holidays, please call us in advance on holidays, since we sometimes will close early.

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