Mission & Conservation

For over 25 years, Oglebay Zoo has partnered with the West Virginia Division of Wildlife to help rehabilitate injured or ill migratory birds. Each year, our expert team cares for 50 to 75 falcons, hawks, and owls, providing them with medical care, physical therapy, and flight training to prepare them for a return to the wild.

You can support this vital work by creating bird-friendly spaces at home with nest boxes or native plantings, adding window decals to prevent collisions, reporting injured birds to local authorities, or donating to our raptor rehabilitation program. Together, we can give these incredible birds a second chance to soar.

Monarch butterfly populations have declined dramatically over the past two decades, largely due to the loss of milkweed—the only plant monarch caterpillars eat—across their breeding range. At Oglebay Zoo, we're proud to participate in Project Monarch Watch. Partnering with citizen scientists from the West Virginia Master Naturalist Program, we've helped rear, tag, and release nearly 2,000 monarch butterflies. It's a hands-on effort to support this iconic species and inspire a love for conservation in our community.

The Eastern hellbender—affectionately known as the “snot otter”—is the largest salamander in the Western Hemisphere, reaching lengths of nearly 30 inches. These elusive amphibians live under large boulders in clean, fast-flowing streams across Appalachia. In 2007, Oglebay Zoo became the first zoo or aquarium to successfully hatch hellbender larvae from eggs. Since then, our team has worked alongside conservation partners like the West Virginia Division of Wildlife and The Wilds to survey wild populations and raise and reintroduce hellbenders into local waterways—helping ensure the future of this fascinating and slimy species.