Lightning Ranch and Wildlife Preserve...the dream started nearly 20 years ago. What dream you say? Reaching out to love, rescue and nurture wildlife in need. Our goal at Lightning Ranch and Wildlife Preserve is to intertwine education of school children and in the process provide a safe haven to neglected and needy circus animals and unfortunates from the pet trade. We continually improve our facilities to accommodate the growing numbers of neglected animals and provide them with a quality life.

We feel it is of utmost importance to provide knowledge of the instincts, habits and care of wildlife both in the wild and in captivity to as many people as possible. Fear of the unknown and ignorance promotes hostility and a lack of conservation. We hope to provide knowledge to children and adults alike so they can better understand the vast complexity of the animal kingdom. All of this is done in essence to reduce the numbers of impulse buyers in the animal trade. Our long-term goal is to obtain international involvement in wildlife reintroduction and conservation efforts.

About us...The Williams, I am Staci and Lance is my husband. We are the animal care providers and founders of the Lightning Ranch and Wildlife Preserve. My fascination began early in life as a veterinarian's daughter. My first pets were a red-tailed boa named "Lucky", and a tarantula named "Fang Face". As I grew up, I was constantly being introduced to and learning about all kinds of exotic animals. My husband, Lance, grew up on a cattle farm. His family also showed and raised Arabian horses. At the age of 14, he was working on a farm that had giraffes, bears, elephants, cougars and many other "normal" animals.

We were both prepared for a life with animals! All of our adventures throughout life were building our minds and we were gaining priceless knowledge along the way. As long as both of us can remember, we have known that we intended to open some type of preserve or rescue for exotic animals. We volunteered a great deal during wildlife rescues and have learned invaluable amounts of knowledge about treating conditions we have encountered along the way. despite animal bites and numerous rabies shots we have never stopped loving what we do!

The inspired journey that brings the joys of LRWP into existence materialized with a Siberian tiger named Mike. He came to us at 10 days old by way of a man we visited named Ray Smith. He was a breeder of lions, tigers, cougars and bears. We spent the day with him helping and learning. We then shared our dream of opening a preserve to care for animals like his. He was 77 years old and knew his animals would out live him. Many breeders are above the age of 50. We told Ray we wanted to open a preserve to take animals in when there was no one available to care for them. We explained to him that we would be a no-kill facility, and at these words he became excited. We spent the rest of the day with him and as we were leaving I told him that someday my husband and I would be back to purchase a lion or tiger so we could gain invaluable hands on experience needed to run a preserve. He looked at us and said, "see that cub? Take him home, because if you can raise this tiger you can raise anything!" He was right! Through nurturing and raising this cub, Mike, we learned more than we ever expected! One of the huge lessons we learned was that tigers do not make good pets. We feel the public needs to be aware of this. This amazing animal and the joy he brings to our lives and all those who visit the preserve, began the journey of making Lightning Ranch and Wildlife Preserve a refuge for those in need of a break, humans and animals alike!

The second animal we have had the joy of raising is Joey, a Wallaby. He came to us from a caretaker who could not provide an environment suitable for the precious little guy. We brought Joey to our preserve and he has developed from a scared and skittish animal to one that allows kids and adults alike to feed him. It is truly a joy to see the excitement and wonder that people experience when they see Joey, and understand how important it is to conserve our environment.

The third addition to our preserve was Hanna. She is a Bengal tiger and was brought to us after having her foot bit off by a wolf at a very young age. She still limps a bit, and as she grew it became increasingly difficult for her caretaker to manage. She has grown to be a wonderful animal and has a playful demeanor like no other!

The list goes on and on...4 miniature horses (Dollar, Trax, Thunder and Bubba), a Blue and Gold Macaw, an African Grey Parrot, several Iguanas and miscellaneous lizards, a Russian Grizzly Cub, numerous small cats and various sizes of dogs. Wild animals needing a place to heal and recuperate after injury or needing protection while growing because of death of their parents, are brought into the preserve for rehabilitation until they are ready to be released back into the wild. We get calls from all over looking for ways to help wildlife in need! If it's raccoons or possums we don't turn them away, even baby birds without a home are nursed to gain strength and released back into the wild.

Just in the last month we have a few more additions! We have taken in an Arabian horse named Cholly, that needed a home. Another Siberian Tiger has been a super addition to the preserve. Her name is Miss Kitty...she was born with a potassium deficiency that her caretakers could no longer manage...we have taken her in. One of our newest additions is Dewey, a quickly growing cougar! All of Dewey's litter mates died of a coccidian bacterial infection, and he was brought to us to try and save him. We treated him for the bacterial infection and he is safe and sound. The list goes on.

This is our dream, this is our life! Families, groups of kids and adults enjoy learning and exploring at the LRWP! It is a true joy to hear children talking to others about what they have learned. We just had over 100 kids of all ages out to learn about and meet the animals and birds. I don't think twice about standing outside at night by the pond quacking for one of our mother ducks, so she will follow me to the house, or getting up at 4:30 a.m. to feed the birds and bottle feed the baby animals. This is the path our lives have taken and we couldn't consider ourselves more blessed other than reaching more animals in need and fighting animal trade by attacking ignorance and fear!

Lightning Ranch and Wildlife Preserve is a non-profit 501(C)3 operation. We now have USDA licensing, Wildlife Rehabilitators licensing and we are currently working on getting our international licensing to help us promote preservation through education and wildlife rehabilitation. The demands on the preserve are growing in leaps and bounds as would be expected with increased awareness about us in the Midwest region of the United States.

There are a plethora  of ways in which you can help open up opportunities and support continuing efforts to provide rehabilitation and preservation of animals and birds of almost every species. Our facility is a no-kill facility and offers various ways for individuals and/or corporations to get involved with preservation efforts.

The burden is constantly growing to build better and bigger facilities for the new and growing wildlife need. We are currently in the process of building a natural wildlife habitat for our large tigers! It is going to cost the Preserve almost a quarter of a Million dollars just to finish habitat and several other small projects! This is just one of our endeavors to make the preserve a quality place for the animals. Only with support from those eager to play a part in the process, are we able to grow and provide for more and more "kids" every few months. Our yearly budget to simply run the preserve continues to grow as we take on more and more wildlife, We are buying up land around our preserve as we raise funds to expand our efforts to make the ranch a complete and naturally groomed habitat for all the various species of animals we currently and will have in the future. Hopefully very soon, word about the Lightning Ranch and Wildlife Preserve will reach from coast to coast...and the opportunity for giving back to our world will only become greater! There are numerous ways in which one can help LRWP grow to provide a refuge for wildlife while educating anyone who wonders about conservation efforts around the world. Whether financially, volunteering time, or providing for some for the physical needs of the preserve, every bit of support helps.

We have now started receiving corporate sponsorship by a few great corporations. Therefore we just want to say a big Thank You to PetCo, Wynmor and White Lakes Family Fitness Centers, Whelans and Heritage Bank for their donations and efforts to help educate through preservation.

The following are ways in which tax deductible financial donations can be made to the Lightning ranch and wildlife Preserve:

A: One time donation

B: Monthly Support

C: Quarterly donations

D: Annual Donations

E: Endowment Fund: Donation will do into a trust fund that is never touched, but the interest earned on the fund will be used monthly or quarterly.

F: Matching Grants: Works with fundraisers, matching a certain amount of money donated for every dollar raised.

G: Sponsoring an animal: Numerous ways in which you can sponsor and animal.

H: Corporate Sponsorship: Wildlife Preserve will advertise the name and will open the reserve for retreats, board meetings and weekend wildlife exploration and fun.

I: Will: designating a portion of life insurance to go to the Preserve and a portion of the money will be used to construct a memorial in your honor with the rest going to the animals.

J; Restricted Giving: Funds are set aside specifically for a particular animal and/or project. This has been a neat way to see people help out the animals they want to see survive.

The Lightning Ranch and Wildlife Preserve is open for tours by appointment only and my husband and I are more than happy to answer any questions or concerns you may have.