ODNR awards The Wilds the Cardinal Award

ZANESVILLE, Ohio- The Ohio Department of Natural Resources awarded The Wilds with the Cardinal Award.

The Cardinal Award is presented to an individual or organization that demonstrates exceptional awareness and concern for proper use and protection of natural resources. The award has been given out since 1971. The Wilds was chosen as the winner of the Cardinal Award due to their more than three decades worth of conservation work.

“What went into getting this award really predates me,” said Vice President of The Wilds Dr. Jan Ramer. “It’s all the work that The Wilds has done over the years to make this property, which use to be a strip mine, and through the help with ODNR on many projects, we now are a wonderful conservation safari park.”

ODNR has worked with The Wilds for years to help make the animal conservation, research, and safari park successful. One of the projects ODNR helped fund, was the White Rhino housing unit. This allows The Wilds to house all 12 White Rhinos in the Winter. ODNR works with The Wilds so often because the conservation park is critical in saving animals and natural resources.

“We like to give access to people in the State of Ohio,” said Director of ODNR Jim Zehringer. “We have almost 10,000 acres out here. There’s plenty of access for people to come out and do what they want to do in the outdoors. Just the sheer beauty of it. It’s reclaimed land, but it’s rolling, there’s a lot of pastures. There are a lot of ponds, but the one thing I really like what they do here is the Hellbender research… but that is a species we are trying to save from extinction, and they’re doing a lot of good research out here.”

If people would like to see The Wilds, Safari tours will be going on during weekends for the rest of October. For a full list of tours and other activities at The Wilds, go to thewilds.columbuszoo.org