A recent episode of a national wildlife television series turned attention to conservation work at the Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens, focusing on the zoo's Orianne Center for Indigo Conservation and its efforts to restore populations of the Eastern indigo snake, described as North America's longest native snake species. The center, led by Dr. James Bogan, is the only captive breeding facility for the species dedicated exclusively to restoring populations in areas where it has disappeared.
The Eastern indigo snake is listed as a threatened species throughout the Southeast Coastal Plain and is now found primarily in southern Georgia and peninsular Florida. Population declines have been driven by habitat loss, habitat fragmentation and the decline of gopher tortoise communities, which provide shelter for the species. At the center, outdoor habitats for the breeding population include underground bunkers that simulate gopher tortoise burrows, offering cool retreats in summer and warmer shelter in colder months.
Breeding season runs from October through January, with females laying between four and 13 eggs from April through June. Hatchlings are cared for at the center for about a year, then typically transferred to a partner agency for another year before release at Conecuh National Forest in Alabama or The Nature Conservancy's Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve in the Florida Panhandle. In April 2025, 42 snakes were released at the Nature Conservancy site, followed by 44 in May at the Alabama site, bringing the total number returned to native habitat to nearly 500. A 2024-2025 winter-spring survey identified a female released in 2019 and 19 other snakes released between 2020 and 2024. Researchers also observed a six-foot-long male and two wild-born hatchlings.
Press release issued by Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens:
https://www.centralfloridazoo.org/mutual-of-omahas-wild-kingdom-spotlights-the-central-florida-zoos-orianne-center-for-indigo-conservation-mission-to-save-the-eastern-indigo-snake/
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