Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park is the only place in Florida to view wild roaming horses and bison. Spanning 21,000 acres in Alachua County there are multiple entrances, overlooks, hiking and biking trails, and thousands of plant and animal species to observe. Some locations draw hundreds of tourists a day at peak times.

The proximity between humans and animals can be quite close in this park, and this project began as a way to educate and bring awareness to proper human wildlife interactions. I’ve been interested in human animal relationships for many years, and with the modern world encroaching more and more on wild spaces it is important now more than ever that we learn how to coexist. We’re often taught about ways to keep ourselves safe from animal attacks. I’d like the viewers of my project to flip that script - we must protect animals from ourselves. We are the top predator on the planet and our actions have big impacts.

I encourage everyone to do their part to #keepwildlifewild by keeping their distance, not feeding animals or leaving food behind, not taking risks for the perfect shot, and obeying park signage.

In April, this project grew when I learned about alligators that were trapped and killed at Lake Alice due to preventable human negligence. My passion to educate our community and keep our gators safe is turning this photo project into something bigger that I hope to share soon. #GatorsForGators

Learn about how you can keep alligators safe -https://www.gainesville.com/story/opinion/2021/05/14/brianne-lehan-fed-gator-dead-gator/5021870001/

This is an active project started in January 2021.