"Woodford Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge is located in Medford, NJ and has a wildlife hospital that sees over 6000 animals a year, as well as over 50 resident animals who are unreleasable for a variety of reasons. Visitors can come and see these animals in their enclosures, and some of the animals are even trained as Wildlife Education Ambassadors to travel for educational programs, such as Nazar, the Eastern Screech Owl seen in the picture. Nazar arrived at the refuge in 2016 as a baby and was found to have near complete vision loss, and she is therefore unable to hunt and survive in the wild. I learned to handle Nazar by feeding her, observing her body language, and spending time with her, and this picture shows me practicing presenting with her. Presentations helped people from preschoolers to seniors learn about why it is important to protect our native wildlife, and what makes each species unique and adapted to their niche. I think Nazar is a beautiful bird and she represents the beautiful mission of Cedar Run which includes rehabilitation and education."
