Wildlife Festival Brings The Natural World To Washington Heights

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS-INWOOD — Hawks, owls, snapping turtles, skunks and Peregrine falcons — the 10th Annual Urban Wildlife Festival is giving New Yorker's the rare opportunity to get up close and personal with the wildlife that makes up the city's eco-system.

The festival takes place May 4 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Highbridge Park on 172nd and Amsterdam Avenue.

The event is part of a larger celebration of the 40th anniversary of Urban Park Rangers in New York City. The Urban Park Rangers organization was created in 1979 by then Parks Commissioner Gordon J. Davis.

At the time, the city was struggling with the after-effects of a fiscal crisis and the parks were in poor condition and unsafe to enter at night. The Rangers were tasked with both cleaning up the over 30,000 acres of parkland in New York City and also serving as ambassadors for them.

Today, the Urban Park Ranger's primary role is to "provide environmental education, interpretation and outdoor adventure programs to New Yorkers," according to a press release from the Parks Department.

Saturday's festival will also include educational tables with kid friendly activities and a live music performance by the White-Eyed Lizard Band,