Tour the animal exhibits at your leisure, or join one of our many daily programs. Accompany our staff at feeding time and you'll learn what our Backyard animals eat and what special adaptations they have evolved. Attend one of our special programs and learn how the different species communicate.

All our Backyard animals are here because they could not survive in the wild -- they have either been injured, orphaned, or have lost their natural fear of humans. The exception is our Red Wolves, part of a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service captive breeding program which is attempting to restore this extremely endangered species.

Come meet a few of our Backyard residents:

Great Horned Owl. The newest addition to our Parade Of Raptors, the mighty Great Horned Owl is known as a fierce predator. It is the only raptor species known to regularly hunt animals larger than itself. This animal was orphaned and had become imprinted on humans before it came to the Nature Station in October 1996 from a wildlife rehab center in Hopkinsville, Ky.

Fallow Deer. This is the only non-native wildlife species on display. LBL has the oldest herd of Fallow Deer in the country, and they can be seen in the wild near the Nature Station. Native to Europe, Fallow Deer were brought to the area in 1918 by the Hillman Land Company for hunting. They are easily distinguished from their White-Tail cousins by their palmated antlers which resemble a moose's, and color variations, including spotted adult coats.

Red Wolf. LBL is proud to be a member of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's Red Wolf Recovery Team. There are fewer than 300 Red Wolves left on the planet today. Because they are so endangered, the few animals remaining are being carefully monitored or housed in breeding facilities until we can bring their numbers up to safe levels. Pups from the captive breeding program have been released into the wild in such places as the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. However, there are no plans to release Red Wolves at LBL. (To hear Red Wolves howl, click the photo!)

Bald Eagle. Native Bald Eagles had disappeared from the region when TVA took over Land Between The Lakes in 1963; habitat loss and pesticides such as DDT caused numbers to fall to just over 400 pairs nationwide. Restoration efforts and pesticide bans have made the Bald Eagle one of this country's environmental success stories, however. LBL played a part in that success by participating in a raise-and-release technique called "hacking." From 1980-1988, 44 eaglets were "hacked" into LBL under the premise that eagles will return to nest where they learned to fly. In 1983, the first active Bald Eagle nest was spotted in Land Between The Lakes in more than 50 years -- the first sign of their return to LBL. This year, 10 Bald Eagle nests were seen at LBL.