From Landfill to Sanctuary: West Babylon Students Learn About Biodiversity

WEST BABYLON — West Babylon Senior High School’s Advanced Placement Environmental Science students took their classroom learning outdoors on Oct. 22 with a visit to the Holtsville Ecology and Animal Sanctuary. The trip was part of their biodiversity unit in the AP curriculum.

Once a landfill, the Holtsville Ecology Center has transformed since its opening in 1979 into a thriving sanctuary that now houses more than 100 animals that cannot be released into the wild or kept in traditional zoos.

Led by science teacher Andrea Durbin, students received a guided tour from Holtsville’s superintendent, who discussed the sanctuary’s conservation and rescue work. Many of the animals—ranging from wild mustangs and hybrid wolves to lynx and other rescued species—were either injured by vehicles, kept illegally as pets, or saved from slaughter.

The experience gave students a closer look at biodiversity, animal rehabilitation, and the effects of human activity on ecosystems.