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It all started with an article in the Greeley Tribune. A nearby wildlife sanctuary (www.wildanimalsanctuary.org) northeast of Denver had recently received a large number of bears rescued from an Ohio 'breeding compound'. That was enough to spur my son and I to take a day off between his finals to check it out.
We drove backroads through the Colorado farmland to highway 52. Most visitors would take either Hwy 85 or I-76 (Exit 31 at Hudson). About 4 miles east of I-76, we spotted a small sign pointing to the sanctuary. We turned right on the gravel road #53 and drove 3 miles to the sanctuary.
As we turned into the sanctuary, we passed a large (15 acre) area with many bears roaming around. Driving slowly we watched the bears as we made it to the Entrance building. Adult admission is $10. An employee gave us a binder with information about the sanctuary and descriptions of every animal in the facility. All the animals are rescued. Each animal's rescue is described. For example, 2 tiger cubs were rescued from a man who kept them in airline animal cages as he lived in his car and used the cubs in photo for money scams!
The purpose of the sanctuary is the animals, not the visitors. Everything is geared to the health of the animals. All viewing of the animals is from viewing platforms above the animals. This makes it so the visitors are not encroaching on the 'personal space' of the animals. No dogs are allowed at the sanctuary - not even if left in the visitor's car. The family that was at the admission desk just before us had brought their dog, but had to leave.
The tigers are perhaps the easiest seen. They have 75 tigers in 3 large compounds as well as at the tiger house. The tigers in the tiger house are in smaller areas where they stay until they are sufficiently acclimated to move to a larger compound. Each of these areas has a stock tank of water so the tigers are frequently enjoying a soak. Believe it or not, there are over 7000 tigers (in private hands - not in zoos) in the U.S.! Perhaps not so surprising as the neighbor behind my parents house had both lions and tigers (they were 'circus people').
Next to be viewed are the lions in 4 compounds varying in size from 1-10 acres. One of them - Arthur - looked like he had just awakened with a 'bad hair day'. Several mountain lions are housed in smaller area. One - Romeo - was especially vocal. We also saw 3 leopards.
In the distance we could see the bears roaming their 15 acres. We then went back to the roof of the gift shop to get good views of wolves, more tigers, and another bear area. In the wolf area, we saw several wolf pups.
This is unusual for the sanctuary because it doesn't breed animals. In fact it neuters animals when it receives them. This exception was because a rescued wolf was pregnant when she arrived.
Next it was a quick look at the gift shop (could our family every go anywhere without checking out the gift shop?!). The only food concession at the sanctuary is at the gift shop where soda and sandwiches are available.
As we went back to our car, we got a good view of the grizzly bears and as we drove out, we spotted other wolves in another compound.
The Wild Animal Sanctuary was really fun to visit. I don't know where else you could ever see so many large cats and bears. From a tourist standpoint, the biggest drawback is the limited viewing of the bears. I'm sure they have plans to add more viewing platforms, but funding is always a concern. Remember that the facility exists for the animals.
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Lions and Tigers and Bears - oh my!
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Since I live in the Denver area, I was very interested in your report. This sounds like a great daytrip for our family and I would like to support a worthwhile organization such as this. Thanks so much for sharing your personal perspective on your visit!
Sounds like a great trip out. It is great that such places exist for these poor animals.
It always amazes me, as a European, that such animals are allowed to be kept by private individuals in the US. I remember seeing the rescue of tigers and bears on Animal Cops Houston on Animal Planet a while ago.
We visited Wolf Haven when we were in Washington last month, and saw the wolves there they have rescued from various places. There too the animals are neutered, not spayed or castrated, so that the can still form the bonds that are essential in wolf life, without cubs resulting. They do breed the Mexican Wolf as it is severely endangered.
A train went past and sounded it's horn which was enough to set all the wolves howling. Wow what a sound - I had goosebumps from it.
I have made a note of the wildlife sanctuary for if we ever make it to Denver.
I made another trip to the sanctuary, this time taking my wife as well as my son. Caught a brief glimpse of a coati mundi and saw all 3 Servals. My wife really loved it as I expected she would.
The trip in July was nice, but we went during the middle of the day and the animals were not very active. I went today with my son - a much cooler day.
All 5 leopards (3 spotted, 2 black) were very active - on the move and play fighting with each other quite a bit. one of the servals was out. During the time we were there, the wolves howled for several minutes and could be seen playing with each other. Only 2 lions (both males) were seen - sleeping. I guess the others were sleeping in their underground dens.
While driving in, we passed the large bear enclosure where they were roaming around and one of the wolf enclosures - saw 3 nice ones. Saw one grizzly. No stopping is allowed on the drive in and you are not supposed to drive slowly, but the road is not very well maintained, so driving at a normal speed is actually fairly slow.
The cougars were very active. We saw perhaps 7 of them. They are kept in smaller enclosures until they can have a larger one built.
The highlight of the day was the tigers. We got there just as one of the tigers was being fed. The keeper gave the tiger a piece of meat thru the fence and then WENT INSIDE the cage to bring in the bowl of meat. The tiger greeted her by standing on its hind legs and 'hugging' her. Keep in mind that these are not trained animals and were often abused before they came to the sanctuary. The tiger went back to eating and then when the keeper picked up the bowl from the previous feeding, the tiger again 'hugged' her. We were hoping to see others being fed, but that was the only one while we were there.
wow, what a cool report. thanks for sharing. next time we're in Denver...
Great report. Thanks. I sent it to my brother in Broomfield.
BTW, you suggested I look at Fountain Hills, AZ for our second home near mountain biking, I think in 2004. We purchased in 2005 and we are still loving it!
Ann Marie
As our family watched the 'Balloon Boy' last week, we saw that the route was going very close to the Sanctuary. That would have been something if the balloon had landed in a compound of tigers, wolves or bears!
I later found out that the tiger that hugged the keeper was a 6 month old female and therefore not likely to be as aggressive as and adult.
The sanctuary is trying to rescue 15 tigers from Cancun Mexico but is being opposed by the Mexican government for rather strange reasons, Details can be found by googling 'cancun tigers' or by going to the sanctuary website.
Amwosu - glad you are still liking FH. Have you seen the Veteran's monument by the lake? Two of my friends were instrumental in getting it constructed.
Bigtyke,
Thanks for bringing this to our attention. It's good to know there are places like this. You might enjoy a visit to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary outside Kanab, UT if you get down to that area at all. It's for domestic animals, and they do great work.