Caring for Critters

Support the Center and "adopt" an education animal through the Center’s Caring for Critters program.

The Wildlife Center of Virginia cares for thousands of animals each year, including about two dozen permanent animal residents whose injuries or behavioral modifications mean they cannot be returned to the wild.

To  help support the Wildlife Center by adopting one, or more, of these wonderful ambassador animals, you can:

Meet our education animals and choose which one — or ones — you’d like to adopt.

Or,

Adopt an Animal Now

A full-year Caring for Critters sponsorship is $50. A half-year sponsorship is $25. Academic-year sponsorships are available to teachers and classrooms for $35 [generally a nine-month sponsorship] (see below).

Your Caring for Critters donation helps provide food, shelter, and medical care for the sponsored animal; supports the Center’s educational outreach programs; and helps provide state-of-the-art emergency care to thousands of animals admitted to the Wildlife Center each year.

Ordering for a special occasion -- a birthday or holiday gift?  Caring for Critters makes a unique and memorable gift for a child, student, teacher, friend, family member, or for yourself!  Merely include a note in the Leave a Comment field of the donation form and specify the receipient and the occasion. 

As a Caring for Critters sponsor, you, or your gift recipient, will receive a special Caring for Critters sponsorship packet, including:

  • A beautiful photo of the sponsored ambassador;
  • The story of that ambassador – how they came to live at the Center;
  • Detailed natural history of the ambassador’s species;
  • A personalized certificate of adoption.


And, throughout the length of the sponsorship period, you’ll receive occasional email updates about your sponsored animal(s). 

And for a limited time only, you can also purchase a 2024 Wildlife Ambassador Calendar with a purchase of a Caring for Critter sponsorship! This beautiful wall calendar features full-page photographs of our ambassador animals and includes important events like ambassador anniversaries, wildlife holidays, and more! 

Caring for Bears

You can also become a "Bear Care" sponsor! Each year, the Center admits numerous Black Bears, most of which are cubs. These long-term patients require a lot of resources since they typically stay at the Wildlife Center for about a year prior to release. "Bear Care" sponsors will help support the Center’s care of bears that we admit during the year. 

 

Academic-year Sponsorships

Caring for Critters sponsorships can be wonderful educational tools for classrooms. Teachers can incorporate the education animal’s story into art, math, science, and writing lessons. In addition to the Caring for Critters sponsorship packet and email updates, teachers will receive email alerts for Critter Cam events. The outreach department is happy to provide additional education animal information [e.g., weights, additional photos, information on enclosures] for classroom use upon request. Some caring individuals are willing to underwrite the cost of a Caring for Critters sponsorship for a classroom. Contact us at edu@wildlifecenter.org for more information.

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