KSC-05PD-2171

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. — A young blue heron stretches its wings amid the branches of pepper trees in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, which shares a boundary with NASA Kennedy Space Center. Its habitat ranges throughout the United States, near lakes, ponds, rivers and marshes. Most migrate south in the fall. This and other wildlife abound throughout KSC as it shares a boundary with the Wildlife Refuge, home to some of the nation’s rarest and most unusual species of wildlife. The wildlife refuge is a habitat for more than 310 species of birds, 25 mammals, 117 fishes and 65 amphibians and reptiles. In addition, the Refuge supports 19 endangered or threatened wildlife species on Federal or State lists, more than any other single refuge in the U.S.