About the Zoo & Wildlife

The West Virginia State Wildlife Center is a zoological park in French Creek, West Virginia. Operated by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, the Wildlife Center displays many of West Virginia's wildlife, including both native and introduced species. A few of the animals at the Wildlife Center were once found naturally in West Virginia, but were extirpated by the early 1900s. The Wildlife Center comprises 338 acres (137 ha) and displays 29 different species of West Virginia mammals, birds, and reptiles, which are located along a 1.25-mile (2.01 km)trail through a mature hardwood forest. The animal exhibits are spacious chain-link enclosures within an actual West Virginian forest, which allows the animals to interact with the environment and behave in more natural ways than one would see in most other zoos that attempt to recreate the environment. Since 1978, the Wildlife Center has been the home of French Creek Freddie, West Virginia's official Groundhog Day meteorologist. The Wildlife Center receives about 50,000 visitors per year.