The Wild Animal Sanctuary, Keenesburg, Colorado

New to Colorado and with only a few friends in the area, I had to figure out what to do for my "golden birthday." That's the sort of special birthday where you turn the same age as the day of the month you were born on. 

I had to do something interesting, so it was to the internet I went!

What I found was the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg, Colorado.

I thought to myself, "Well, I love animals, and this place is clearly going to be better than a zoo, because it's a place that rescues abused and neglected wildlife, and doesn't use them to make money like a zoo does!"

I didn't realize just how amazing this place would be.

Just on the drive in we were greeted by the sight of bears playing in a large open cages, and one was even basking in a large tub filled with water!

These animals come from all over the United States and some even come from other countries like Bolivia and Mexico.

They had been kept in tiny cages, some fed maggot filled meat and others bred endlessly so their young may be sold to passing tourists at a dingy old truck stop. 

Many of these animals had never before felt grass beneath their feet, many were bent and broken from an entire life of confinement in a cage that was all too small.

Here they find refuge. 

Here they were given grass beneath their feet, beautiful sunny skies and space to run, jump and play.

These are not animals that can ever return to the wild, and so they are given the very next best thing, and it is indescribable to see, especially when you know their stories.

Signs are posted by each habitat as you walk on the mile long walkway over head, telling you a few example stories of how the animals found their way to the sanctuary.

Animals that are new to the refuge are kept in smaller cages so that they can get used to the sights, sounds and smells of the sanctuary before they are put into larger groups of animals and given a larger place to roam.

Tigers take a little longer in this process as they don't normally live with other tigers, and tend to be very solitary. However, with time and patience, an "ambush" of tigers are formed. (Ambush is what you call a group of tigers!)

These smaller cages are how the tigers can get used to each other and eventually "make friends" so that they can be put together in a larger home. 

This is one of the larger tiger cages. 

A tiger in the large cage 

This lioness no longer suffers inside a tiny cage. 

A black bear enjoys the dens that are kept at a constant 60 F year round.  

The sanctuary is home to over one hundred black bears, grizzlies, kodiak bears and syrian bears, tigers, lions, leopards, wolves, coyotes, bobcat, lynx, mountain lions, red fox, african crested porcupine, coati mundis and even alpacas!

It was a hot day, so many of the animals including this wolf were napping in the shade. 

Grizzly bear cooling off in a tub! 

The Wild Animal Sanctuary is non-profit, and is always in need of donations.

Even if you don't have the money, spreading awareness of exotics as pets is a great way to help out.

Right now there are more tigers in private, non-zoo hands in the United States ALONE than there are in the wild. 

Many people think they would be good pets, but they can't take care of them or handle them when they get too big. 

Here's the website, check it out!

http://www.wildanimalsanctuary.org/home.html

And should you find yourself in Colorado, please visit the Wild Animal Sanctuary!