Give Wildlife a Chance Poster Contest

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources, The State Botanical Garden of Georgia and The Environmental Resources Network, Inc. (T.E.R.N.) encourage you and your students to participate in the 21st annual Give Wildlife a Chance Poster Contest. This popular conservation art contest provides a unique opportunity for students to explore the wonders of Georgia’s native plant and animal species through this year’s theme Celebrating Georgia’s Wildlife from the Mountains to the Sea.

Native species are those that naturally occur in Georgia, unlike exotic species that were introduced from other places. They come in all shapes and sizes -- from the large, moss-covered live oak tree of South Georgia (our state tree) to the little grass frog, the smallest frog species in North America!

The vast majority of Georgia’s native wildlife species are nongame (those which are not hunted, trapped or fished) and can include rare or endangered animals and plants such as the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker and the hooded pitcherplant, an unusual carnivorous plant found in the longleaf pine ecosystem. There are approximately 3,600 species of nongame plants, 950 nongame vertebrate species and countless invertebrate species and nonvascular plants—all together, more than 95 percent of Georgia’s wildlife species are considered nongame!

Nongame wildlife can be found in your schoolyard, students’ backyards or community parks. Some of the nongame wildlife that your students can depict in their artwork are songbirds, small mammals, salamanders, manatees, fish, snakes, hawks, insects and many species of native plants. Take your students on a field trip to a nearby state park, botanical garden or wildlife management area and set them free to observe and explore Georgia’s wildlife!

We look forward to working with you and your students at the 21st annual Give Wildlife a Chance Poster Contest! If you have any questions or need additional copies of this brochure, please visit www.georgiawildlife.com [1] or www.uga.edu/botgarden [2], or contact Kitty Spivey, (478) 994-1438, or Cora Keber, (706) 542-6156.