Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge |
|
|---|---|
|
IUCN Category IV (Habitat/Species Management Area)
|
|
 Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge
Location in Alabama
Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge
Location in the United States
|
|
| Location | Baldwin County and Mobile County, Alabama, United States |
| Nearest city | Gulf Shores, Alabama |
| Area | 7,157.72 acres (29 km2) |
| Established | 1980 |
| Visitors | 50,000 (in 2005) |
| Governing body | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service |
| Website | Bon Secour NWR |
Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge is a 7,157-acre (29 km2) National Wildlife Refuge located in five separate units in Baldwin and Mobile Counties, United States, directly west of Gulf Shores, Alabama on the Fort Morgan Peninsula. The refuge serves as a resting and feeding area for migratory birds and as a sanctuary for native flora and fauna. The refuge is one of the largest undeveloped parcels of land on the Alabama coast.
Established in 1980, Bon Secour (the name, in French, means "safe harbor") is smaller than most other national wildlife refuges, and is divided into Sand Bayou, Perdue, Little Point Clear, Fort Morgan, and Little Dauphin Island.
The Perdue unit is the most developed. Most units are located on the Fort Morgan Peninsula in Baldwin County, except Little Dauphin Island, which is in Mobile County. More than 50,000 guests visit the refuge annually. The fiscal year 2005 budget was $404,000.
Protected habitats within the refuge include beaches and sand dunes, scrub forest, fresh and saltwater marshes, fresh water swamps, and uplands.
Wildlife
The refuge seeks to conserve an undisturbed beach and dune ecosystem which will serve as a refuge for endangered and threatened plant, fish, and wildlife species, as well as a habitat for migratory birds.
Some of the refuge's endangered species are the Alabama beach mouse which lives among the sand dunes and sea oats, and green, loggerhead, and Kemp's ridley sea turtles, which nest along the beach.
Approximately 400 species of birds have been identified on the refuge, usually during migratory seasons, ranging from ospreys and herons to seven species of hummingbirds. There have been sightings of deer, bobcat, alligators, red fox, wild pig, coyotes, and armadillos.
Trail networks
There are four trails in the Perdue unit of the refuge with a combined length of five miles.
- Pine Beach Trail
- Jeff Friend Trail
- Gator Lake Trail
- Centennial Trail
Images for kids
-
Map of Bon Secour
-
Sunrise at Bon Secour (2001)
-
View from Mobile Road in Bon Secour
-
Damage from Hurricane Ivan (2004)
