20 Photos Of Wildlife In Arkansas That Will Drop Your Jaw
Arkansas is home to two excellent wildlife refuges – Wapanocca National Wildlife Reserve in Turrell, Arkansas and Riddle’s Elephant & Wildlife Sanctuary in Greenbrier provide excellent safe havens for the animals and a wealth of educational resources for Arkansans to study animal lives and behavior. Photographers are also lucky to get some beautiful shots of the wildlife that live on these gorgeous reserves.

Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge houses over 130 animals.

Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge is located at 239 Turpentine Creek Lane in beautiful Eureka Springs, Arkansas.

All 459 acres of Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge are set aside specifically for abused, abandoned, and neglected big cats.

Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge is a USDA licensed refuge for Big Cats.

Visitors are allowed to stay overnight in provided lodging at Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge.

Wapanocca Refuge contains extensive virgin cypress swamp, mature bottomland hardwood forest, reforested uplands, and grasslands.

Wapanocca NWR hosts wintering waterfowl, serves as a migratory stopover point for neotropical birds, and provides breeding habitat for forest songbirds.

Recreational opportunities at Wapanocca refuge include wildlife observation, fishing, hunting, canoeing, photography, and environmental education.

Wapanocca also features a refuge visitor center on the premises.

Wapanocca offers refuge to various endangered animals, including bald eagles.

Wapanocca is managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

The refuge is located four miles west of the Mississippi River and protected from the river by the river levee. Prior to establishment of the refuge, it was the site of the Wapanocca Outing Club which was formed in 1886.

Wapanocca refuge literally stands as a wildlife oasis in an agricultural sea.

An excellent diversity of habitat has been set aside on this agricultural land, bottomland hardwood forest, early stage reforested hardwoods, open water, and flooded cypress/willow swamp.

Riddle's is the only internationally recognized sanctuary that accepts any elephant regardless of species, gender, or disposition.

Riddles was established by Scott and Heidi Riddle in 1990 on 330 acres in the Ozark Mountain foothills in Arkansas as a non-profit home for any elephant that needs one for any reason.

Riddle's Elephant & Wildlife Sanctuary
is located on Arkansas 25 off U.S. 65 North
in Greenbrier, Arkansas.

Riddle's Elephant Sanctuary is open to the public the first Saturday of every month from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Donations are gratefully accepted.

Wapanocca NWR is located 20 miles northwest of Memphis, Tennessee, in Crittenden County, Arkansas.

Many Arkansans are surprised to find out that there's an actual elephant sanctuary in the Natural State.
The Natural State is proud of its animals, animal sanctuaries, and the hard-working people who tend to the needs of our friends of other species! If you have any experiences with these sanctuaries, tell us all about them in the comments below.