Wildlife Images

About Wildlife Images Rehabilitation and Education Center

Wildlife Images Rehabilitation and Education Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit at 11845 Lower River Road in Grants Pass, Oregon. Its website describes it as a nonprofit focused on wildlife conservation through a rehabilitation facility and a zoo, integrating animal health care with education. The organization says it keeps more than 60 ambassador animals and treats more than 1,200 rescued animals each year, and that its motto is "Involve. Educate. Inspire."

The center's stated mission is to actively involve and educate visitors in wildlife conservation through immersive experiences and naturalistic habitats, presenting animals in authentic settings with interactive technology and educational tools. Its vision describes a world where every encounter with wildlife at the facility leads to a lifelong commitment to conservation, and it mentions plans to make the space an all-weather, accessible haven with natural habitats, storytelling and art.

The center is not accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

History

Travel Oregon states that Wildlife Images was established as a nonprofit in 1981, building on founder J. David Siddon's four decades of wildlife rehabilitation work. In an August 2026 interview, Jefferson Public Radio's Jefferson Exchange program described the center as celebrating its 45th year of operation, with executive director Dave Siddon describing the mission as to involve, educate and inspire. The center's website says it has been operating for more than 40 years. Travel Oregon places the property next to the Rogue River.

The interview page says the nonprofit does not charge for animal treatment, relying on memberships, volunteers and donations.

Exhibits and habitats

The park's page says Wildlife Images is a working wildlife rehabilitation center with a number of permanent residents who cannot be released, and that it is open for visitation year round. The page names wolves, grizzly bears, bobcats and birds of prey among the animals visitors can see up close. The Jefferson Exchange page names Gilbert, a 400-pound grizzly bear, and several retired film animals among the residents that cannot return to the wild, and its photographs show Albert, a barn owl, and a golden eagle at the center.

The center's species guide lists many of its residents. Mammals include American badger, Bennett's wallaby, dama wallaby, bobcat, brown bear, gray fox, gray wolf, North American river otter, Patagonian cavy, striped skunk and Virginia opossum. The guide also describes the center's wolf-hybrids, defined as animals that are part domestic dog and part wolf. Birds include augur buzzard, bald eagle, black swan, cinereous vulture, Eurasian eagle owl, ferruginous hawk, golden eagle, great horned owl, king vulture, peregrine falcon, sandhill crane, turkey vulture, wedge-tailed eagle and western screech owl. Reptiles and invertebrates include ball python, California kingsnake, desert tortoise, eastern box turtle, red-footed tortoise, sulcata tortoise, red-tailed green rat snake, leopard gecko, a Mexican red-knee tarantula and Madagascar hissing cockroaches.

Conservation and programs

The wildlife hospital is the center's rehabilitation arm. The hospital page says it accepts injured, sick or orphaned wildlife only from Josephine, Jackson and Curry counties in Oregon, runs a hotline staffed seven days a week except on a short list of holidays, and asks callers not to offer food or water to an animal unless clinic staff say to. The hospital page says rehabilitation of deer is prohibited in Oregon by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the home page cites concerns about chronic wasting disease in neighboring states and about habituation. The home page's September 2026 clinic update reported 951 animals admitted so far that year. The Jefferson Exchange page describes baby season as the busiest period, when staff may receive as many as 40 young animals a day, and says the center reports releasing a higher percentage of rehabilitated animals than the national average.

Ambassador encounters are separate paid add-ons that must be purchased at least three days in advance, with regular admission bought separately, and children 14 and under must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. The experiences page describes the following.

Wallaby Walkabout and Cavy Connection is a roughly 30-minute encounter inside the wallaby enclosure, with a group limit of eight and a minimum age of five, offered weather permitting.

A roughly 15-minute encounter with Molly, a Virginia opossum, takes place in the Rotary Pavilion, where a keeper discusses her backstory and natural history.

A roughly 20-minute walk with a wolf-dog hybrid around the zoo begins at the wolf statue, with a limit of six people and a minimum age of six, and ends with a photo opportunity.

A roughly 15-minute encounter with the skunks Salt and Pepper takes place in the pavilion.

The page also lists a reptile encounter, a raptor experience with birds on the glove, an otter encounter with the otters Luke and Mitch that includes feeding for ages 12 and up, a grizzly bear encounter near Gilbert during a training session for ages 12 and up, and a tortoise encounter offered from May to October.

The home page also lists Twilight Tuesday guided bat walks.

Camp EEK is the center's summer camp, with ten weekly sessions in summer 2026 on themes that include wildlife rehab, bears, mustelids, raptors, predators, marsupials, animal enrichment, pollinators, and carnivores, omnivores and herbivores. The camp page says it offers need-based scholarships. School field trips are offered for grades Pre-K through 12 with one chaperone per ten students. The center also rents event space at the Rotary Pavilion and Critter Creek and runs a membership program.

Planning your visit

As listed on the center's website under summer hours, the park is open daily from 9 am to 5 pm, with last tickets sold at 4 pm. The park page says tickets can be purchased onsite and that the park is open year round, closing on Thanksgiving, December 24 and 25, and December 31 and January 1. Membership gives year-round access, and ticket and encounter prices are on the center's website. The phone number is listed as 541-476-0222. Travel Oregon suggests comfortable shoes, warm clothing in winter and bottled water in summer.