Help us create better security for our animals.

I write to you on behalf of the animals and staff of the Everglades Wonder Gardens, an 84-year old cultural icon in Bonita Springs Florida. We were recently broken into. Some of our rescued animals were stolen. This crime has really disheartened us during this time of the COVID pandemic. We have been closed to our guests since March 16 and have been working hard to renovate the outdated exhibits during the last few months.

One of the opportunities during closure was to fumigate the welcome center for termites. Five of our rescued ambassador animals were stolen on the night that the building was being tented for termites. The animals taken in the night were Hera, our celebrity animal ambassador who is an albino red-tailed boa (snake), along with a ball python, another red-tailed boa and two Russian tortoises. These animal ambassadors are crucial for our mission of educating local children on the importance of wildlife and local environment.

We have been fiscally sound during the closure and had the resources to remain closed during renovations, but now have decided to improve the security after such a traumatic event for the staff and animals. The crime most likely happened only due to the fumigation and tenting of the building which covered three of our security cameras that night. The locks on the exhibits that housed the special reptiles were cut off. They are located on the far West side of the sanctuary beyond the wifi capabilities of our security system. We need to raise the funds to extend our wifi for better coverage, add more cameras, and add stronger locks. This hopefully will deter further criminals from stealing and harming the rescue animals that call the Wonder Gardens their forever home.

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