Oatland Island Wildlife Center

The Oatland Island Wildlife Center is a 100-acre wildlife preserve and environmental education complex located on Oatland Island in Chatham County, Georgia, near Savannah.^[1] The island itself is one of the Sea Islands, which are barrier islands along the southeastern coast of the United States. Bounded by St. Augustine Creek to the north, the Wilmington River to the west, and Richardson Creek to the south, Oatland lies just north of Whitemarsh Island.^[2] It is home to over 150 animals and some 40 species native to the Georgia coast. Originally part of a cotton plantation, the island once held a retirement center for railroad workers and a hospital and laboratory for the U.S. Public Health Service. It was later transferred to the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System (SCCPSS) for use as an educational resource and learning facility. The wildlife center remains under the control and management of SCCPSS.