Our refuge was originally called the Native American Wildlife Refuge and was started by John Barkas in 1971. The refuge was dedicated to promoting native American species, including birds, mammals, reptiles and more. John was a lover of animals and his extensive knowledge became the foundation of the NAWR. NAWR was asked to change from Native American Wildlife Refuge so it would not confuse people with American Indian / Native American run organizations, the name changed to The American Wildlife Refuge in 1976. The AWR applied for and attained non-profit status in 2001. That same year, John Barkas died, and the refuge changed to raptors only.
As a child, John was always bringing home hurt animals. His family made him keep his ‘hobby’ outside, but he worked with all sorts of wildlife from a very young age.
As a teenager in the 1950’s, John got his first hawk, a South American savannah hawk, by ordering it from the back of a comic book. During his military service as a medic, he also cared for animals, much to the distaste of his superiors. They stopped inspecting his footlocker after they found his cobra in it!
John also worked at the Tulsa Zoo doing animal care and solving problems for the animals. John spent many years traveling with various circus animal acts and learning about animal behavior and care. At one point, John spent seven years at the Cleveland Aquarium. He was the curator of marine mammals, reptiles, and amphibians, where he taught countless people how to handle and care for injured animals. It was his hope that the American Wildlife Refuge would be a haven for the animals he loved so much. In his lifetime John taught well over ten million people lessons with birds of prey.
Our current head of animal care is Steve Stone, who had been training and working with John since the 1990’s. Together, they completed the federal paperwork to create the American Wildlife Refuge as a charity. Steve worked with John until his death in 2001. Steve has both Federal and State certifications for the rehabilitation of migratory birds. He is involved with every injured bird that comes through the Refuge. Through his care and work, many orphaned or injured animals are returned to the wild, healthy and able. Steve has worked with many species of raptors that few in North Carolina have ever seen. Since he took over he as rehabilitated more than 2000 birds.
Steve is also federal and state licensed for educational possession of migratory birds. Steve brings his educational animals to thousands of children each year. To date his 2000+ education shows have been seen by approximately 2.5 million people.