Oatland Island Pelican Sitting on Branch

Let's All Go to The Oatland Island Wildlife Center!..

POOLER'S closest zoo, Oatland Island Wildlife Center, is fun for both kids and adults.

This native species zoo was featured in the 2002 film "The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys ... Read film reviews!

Ready to discover this exciting native species zoo and educational center?..

Where's it Located?.... and How Much Does It Cost?

The Oatland Island Wildlife Center is located about 15 minutes from Pooler, GA - 5 miles east of downtown Savannah off Islands Expressway, @ 711 Sandtown Rd., Savannah, GA (912) 898-3980

The center is now OPEN TO THE PUBLIC every day, except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day ~ from 10:00 am - 4:00pm. Guests can remain on grounds until 5:00 pm. Daily admission for adults (ages 18-64) is $5.00. You pay $3.00 admission for children ages 4-17, seniors ages 65 and older, active military and students with ID - Children ages 3 and under enter for FREE!..

Prices for special events are the same as regular admission.

Note: Check Website for current prices and times.

If you have children and live in the local area, you’ll want to become a “Friends of Oatland Island” member.
For a small annual fee, your family can enjoy the center all year and receive event admission discounts.

Oatland Island Education Center Main Building - Entry Sign

What Can We Do There?

Several times throughout the year, the Oatland Island Wildlife Center provides special events to the public. The size and quality of the events at the center continue to improve and get bigger each year. Use the Pooler-Georgia-HOMEPAGE

event calendar to keep up with all the exciting activities and festivals throughout the year. In addition to offering more than 40 student programs, they have over 50 indigenous Georgia animalson site that are used in educational programming, many of which are an endangered and/or threatened species. Most animals are located along a 2 mile trail in large, natural enclosures.

The Story of Oatland Island

Here’s a brief summary of the site’s past and resources that can be used to learn more about this important & beautiful - native species zoo.

Historic details of the site that is now known as Oatland Island can be found in a historical novel by Eugenia Price entitled “Don Juan McQueen." Be sure to read Eugenia Price's Florida Trilogy: Don Juan McQueen, Maria, Margaret's Story (Set of 3) to learn more about this very special island.

About 200 years ago the island was cleared of trees when a successful business purchased the property to grow cotton.

There was no further development of the land until the Order of Railway

Conductors (ORC) purchased the land, in 1926. They constructed a “Railway Conductor’s

Home," which opened in 1927. The site was closed in 1940, when occupancy had fell to just 11 retired conductors and their wives.

The property was sold to the U.S. Public Health Service and the main facility was converted to a hospital, in 1941. The hospital was used to study Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD’s).

By 1945, the property was offered to the (MCWA) Malaria Control in War Areas, an organization of the Public Health Service. Later, the group was renamed the Center for Disease Control (CDC). Numerous experiments were performed on the site, until the ill effects of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) were realized.

In 1973, the Laboratory moved to Atlanta. At that time, the site was turned over to the Savannah Board of Education, but kept ownership of the land in the hands of the CDC for the next 30 years.

In 1998, the contaminated site was closed to remove the DDT from the grounds.

The contract with the CDC expired in 2004, at which point, the School Board took full possession of the property. The Board of Education now owns the land, free and clear.

A more detailed account of Oatland Island's history can be found by reading a small booklet, you can purchase at the Oatland Island Wildlife Center gift store – entitled: The History of Oatland Circa 1790-1973, by Dr. James Miles.

Where Can I learn More about Oatland Island?

Check-out the Oatland Island Website

Medieval Festival Pictures

Click here, then scroll down and click Oatland Island Cruise. There, you'll see this, and other tours in the Pooler Area. Learn about an exciting opportunity to combine a cruise of the waterways with a walk on the wild side. Panthers, wolves, bison, birds of prey and more are seen in their natural habitat.

Sea Side Institute Mentions the Center

More Education Center Details

Medieval Festival Story (WTOC)

Savannah Medieval Festival @ Oatland

Annual Halloween Hike

Historical novels and other literature can be used to gain a better picture of Oatland Island’s History:

Ethridge, Elizabeth W.; Sentinel for Health: a History of the Centers for Disease Control, U. of California Press, 1991.

Fay, R. W., Baker, J.T., and Jensen, J.A.; Radioactive Tagging of Culex quinquefaciatus (Say) with P-32; Mosquito News, Vol. 19, No. 3, 1959.

Hayes, W.J., Ph.D, Durham, W.F., Ph.D., and Cuetos, C., B.S., The Effect of Known Repeated Oral Doses of DDT in Man., J. Am. Med. Assoc., Vol. 162, Oct. 27, 1956.

Jensen, J.A. and Fay, Richard W.; Tagging of Adult Houseflies and Flesh Flies with Radioactive phosphorus, Journal of Tropical Medicine, Vol. 31, No. 4, 1951.

Jensen, J.A., Pearce, G. W., and Quarterman, K.D.; A Mechanical System for Dispensing Known Amounts of Insecticidal Vapours, Bull. Wld. Hlth. Org., 24, 619-622, 1961.

Maddock, D.R., Sedlak, V. A., and Schoof, H. F.; Dosage-Mortality Response of Musca Domestica Exposed to DDVP Vapour; Bull. Wld, Hlth. Org., 24, pp. 643-644, 1961.

Maddock, D.R., Sedlak, V. A.; Dosage-Mortality Response of Anopheles Quadrimaculatus Exposed to DDVP Vapours, Bull. Wld. Hlth. Org., 24, 644-646, 1961.

Mattson, A. M., Spillane, J.T., and Pearce, G.W.; Dimethethyl 2,2-Dichlorovinyl Phosphate (DDVP), a Compound Highly Toxic to Insects. J. Agr. Fd. Chem.; 3, pp. 319-21, (1955).

Mattson, A.M., Spilliane, J.T., Baker, Curtis, and Pearce, G.W., Determination of DDT and Related Substances in Human Fat., Analytical Chem., Vol. 25, No. 7, July 1963.

McCray, Elmo M., Jensen, J.A., and Schoof, H. F.; Cobalt-60 Sterilization Studies with Aedes aegypti (L.). Proceedings of Forty-Eighth Annual Meeting of the New Jersey Mosquito Extermination Assoc., 1961.

McCray, Elmo M.; A mechanical Device for the Rapid Sexing of Aedes aegypti Pupae.; J. Economic Entomology, 54(4), p. 819, August, 1960.

Miles, J. W., Pearce, G.W., and Woehst, J. E., Stable Formulations for Sustained Release of DDVP., Agricultural & Food Chemistry., Am, Chem. Society., Vol. 10, pp. 240-244, 1962.

Pearce, G. W., Paper submitted to the WHO Expert Committee on Insecticides; Geneva, Switzerland, 1960.

Pearce, G. W., Schoof, H. F., and Quarterman, K.D., Insectical Vapors for Aircraft Disinsection; Bull. Wld. Hlth. Org., 24, pp. 611-16, 1961.

Price, Eugenia; Don Juan McQueen, Buccaneer Books, 1974.

Rasmussen, W.A., Jensen, J.A. Stein, W.J., and Hayes, W.J., Toxicological Studies of DDVP for Disinsection of Aircraft, Aerospace Medicine, Vol. 34, No. 7, July 1963.

Schoof, H. F., Jensen, J.A., Porter, J. E. and Maddock, D. R.; Disinsection of Aircraft with a Mechanical Dispenser of DDVP Vapor, Bull. Wld. Hlth. Org., 24, 623-628, 1961.

Witter, R. F., Gaines, T.B., Short, J. G., Sedlak, V.P. and Maddock, D. R.; Studies on the Safety of DDVP for the Disinsection of Aircraft, Bull. Wld. Hlth. Org., 24, 635-642, 1961.

Growing into an Offical Zoological Park

~ $5 Million Renovation ~

The Oatland Island Wildlife Center of Savannah continues to build into a world-class zoological park and environmental education facility. We'll do our best to keep site visitors informed about these exciting changes.

Grab a friend, the kids or your Grand kids and spend a few hours exploring this fascinatingly wild place - called...Oatland Island!