 President Richard Nixon.
Around 1930, the Keys family hired John Toby Woods to supervise their activities on the island. Mr. Toby, as staff called him, worked for the Keys family, the Rauers family, Noble, and for the E.J. Noble estate. His son, John Toby Woods, Jr., became the island’s superintendent for the E.J. Noble estate in 1962, for the E.J. Noble Foundation from 1969 to 1981, and for the St. Catherine’s Island Foundation from 1981 to 1982.
In the late 1960s, June Noble Larkin, Frank Y. Larkin, and Al Chapman began to research different options for how the island could be best put to use while still retaining its special wildness. A consultant was hired to write a conservation plan, and they sought the advice of scientists and conservationists from the American Museum of Natural History, the New York Zoological Society (NYZS), and the University of Georgia. Dr. Eugene Odum was one of the scientists from the University of Georgia sought out by the Larkins.
The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) was asked to supervise a research program on the island and the NYZS agreed to run a “survival center” for the breeding of endangered wildlife species. In 1972, the first researchers from the AMNH came to SCI in order to conduct surveys of flora and fauna on the island. In 1974, the NYZS brought the first endangered animals to SCI, and Dr. David Hurst Thomas of the AMNH arrived to see if the island had any potential for archaeological research. Though the survival center closed in 2004, Thomas continues to direct archaeological research on the island.
The title of the island was transferred to the St. Catherines Island Foundation in 1981. The Noble Foundation is still the main source of funding for the research, education, and conservation programs being conducted on the island.
From 1974 to 2007, the Wildlife Conservation Society operated a breeding facility on St. Catherines Island for rare and endangered species. As a result of this ambitious project, several thousand mammals, birds, and reptiles of 54 different species lived in the island’s facilities over its 33-year existence. The breeding facilities are located in the southern section of the main Compound, although few are in use today.
Animals bred at the center included:
The Bronx Zoo has closed a large animal preserve on a 14,000-acre undeveloped island off the coast of Georgia, where for 30 years zoologists have studied – among other things – the mating habits of wildlife, including lemurs, hartebeests, zebras, tortoises, gazelles and several species of exotic birds.
In the interior of St. Catherines Island, deer roam freely and wild hogs jog playfully throughout the woods. Suddenly, in the distance, a sound not native to the area is heard. A group of ring-tailed lemurs hangs from the trees, a small herd of African Jackson hartebeests prances by, and an exotic great hornbill bird is spotted. Welcome to the sanctuary of St. Catherines Island Wildlife Survival Center.