Lakeside Nature Center teaches about local wildlife

KANSAS CITY, Missouri - If you ask Sharon Goff, president of Friends of Lakeside Nature Center, for a tour of their building in Swope Park, she’ll show you around like it’s her own prize home. It’s clear from the beginning -- as you see shelves of bird wings, photos of wild animals and coloring sheets -- that the Lakeside Nature Center is all about education.

The exhibits are hands-off, other than a table covered with bones, fur, snakeskins and other handleables, and two healthy rabbits that instructors use when school groups visit. From fluffy bunnies to poisonous snakes, Lakeside is here to teach you about the animals right outside your door.

Goff, president of the organization that raises most of the center's budget, has been a volunteer there for 30 years. She says they enjoy a great partnership between the city of Kansas City, which owns the facility, and the Missouri Department of Conservation.

"There is just no other place like this place where we do this enormous education program and the wildlife rehabilitation and our conservation efforts," Goff said.

Lakeside began in 1966 in an old concessions building near the Kansas City Zoo. It started out as something between a zoo and a nature preserve – a place where you could get close to animals. Animal preservation was the initial focus, Goff said, spurred on by the injured animals the public brought in.

They outgrew that building and moved to their current building on Gregory Boulevard in 1999. It hosts displays of live animals, including two bald eagles, an animal hospital and classrooms. Outside, visitors find two hiking paths.

This isn’t your ordinary zoo, populated with exotic animals from around the world. What all of these animals have in common is that they're native to Missouri.

Goff said it’s important for people to understand the wildlife in their own neighborhoods. She especially stressed that nature is usually good at taking care of itself. People frequently call the center with concerns about what they think are injured or abandoned animals. The usual advice: leave it alone and it will be fine.

"Every time they see a turtle, they want to pick it up and put it in a shoebox cause they think it needs extra nurturing," Goff said.

Their motto is "Let the Wild be Free,” and they live it. They treat more than 2,000 injured animals every year. Most of them recover and are released into the wild. Others stay here and are used in education programs.

"When people come here, they see these wonderful creatures up close,” Goff said. “They see a barn owl up close, and a barred owl or a kestrel, and it's just wonderful to see them."

Lakeside Nature Center is open every day except Mondays. You can see their hours, find out about programs or volunteer at their website, http://www.lakesidenaturecenter.org .