Conservation highlight: eastern indigo snakes

Hi everyone!  It’s Kelly here again!  Some of you may know that Zoo Atlanta takes part in quite a few conservation partnerships!    

In fact, the Zoo Atlanta Herpetology Team has been helping local conservation initiatives by participating in programs for endangered species for over 10 years.  Some of the animals benefiting from these programs, like the diamondback terrapins at Scaly Slimy Spectacular (reared here through our longtime support of the Georgia Sea Turtle Center’s Jekyll Island Causeway Conservation Program, which will ultimately release them into the wild), are visible and a big hit with visitors. Others are not as well-known as they take place behind the scenes, like our eastern indigo snake (Drymarchon couperi) program.  However, both are valuable and play a big part in supporting our local species.   

Head-start programs provide a predator free, stable environment in which animals can grow. This strategy is important for some animals where habitat loss, predation, poaching, road strikes, and the introduction of invasive species have decimated their populations. This is true for the eastern indigo snake. Each year in May, the Zoo will take in 20 to 30 baby indigos born at the Orianne Center for Indigo Conservation (OCIC) at the Central Florida Zoo. These cute, tiny little noodles typically come in weighing between 100 to 300 grams and are about one to two feet long. We’ll raise them for a year, and then the following May, they are released into their native long-leaf pine habitat in southern Alabama.  By the time they are reintroduced, most individuals will weigh over 1,000 grams and are four to five feet long. With this increased size, even though they grew up in a non-natural setting, they still maintain their natural instincts and will have a better chance of surviving in the wild.     

This past May (2025) was my first time being a part of the release party. We packed up all the snakes into their snake bags (pillowcases) and travel bins and set off for Conecuh National Forest.  Once there, we met up with many people from OCIC, state and federal agencies, universities, and many other partners.  Each snake was then weighed, measured (snout to tail tip and snout to vent), photographed, and put back in their pillowcase and box to be released the next day.  In the morning, we met up at the release site, each grabbed one or two of the pillowcases with the indigos in them (much easier to carry pillowcases than bins) and set off into the woods following the lead researcher, who had GPS coordinates for each release site, aka gopher tortoise burrows. At each burrow, the snake’s identification was double checked (they all have PIT tags like your dog or cat might have to help ID them), the GPS coordinates were marked, and then we released them into the burrow wishing them the best life.   

I have to say it was a pretty special day all around.  Knowing that these snakes get another chance to reestablish themselves in wild areas that they used to historically be found in is an incredible feeling. And without all of you, this wouldn’t be possible.  So, thank you and please keep visiting us at Scaly Slimy Spectacular!     

If you are interested in more information about this project, check out the Orianne Center for Indigo Conservation website:  https://www.oriannesociety.org or https://www.centralfloridazoo.org/orianne-center-for-indigo-conservation-ocic/ . Until next time, friends! 

Kelly Garner 
Lead Keeper, Herpetology