Where Is The Wild Animal Sanctuary In Colorado

The Wild Animal Sanctuary
The Wild Fauna Sanctuary logo
Central receiving compound with upper level teaching center
Date opened	January 10, 1980^[1]
Location	Keenesburg, Colorado, The states
Coordinates	40°01′41″Northward 104°33′35″West / 40.028173°Due north 104.559760°W / 40.028173; -104.559760 Coordinates: 40°01′41″North 104°33′35″W / xl.028173°N 104.559760°Westward / 40.028173; -104.559760
Country area	9,793 acres (3,963 ha)^[1]
No. of animals	460+^[1]
No. of species	~eighteen^[2]
Annual visitors	about 200,000 (2013)^[1]
Website	www.wildanimalsanctuary.org

The Wild Animal Sanctuary is a 789-acre (319 ha) beast sanctuary in Keenesburg, Colorado, U.s.. The sanctuary specializes in rescuing and caring for big predators which are being ill-treated, for which their owners can no longer care, or which might otherwise be euthanized.^[3] It is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and a state and federally licensed zoological facility.

Created in 1980, The Wild Brute Sanctuary is situated on grassland northeast of Denver, and has helped over one,000 animals since information technology kickoff opened. By early 2018, home to more than 460 animals, and 192 staff to have care, the group announced the purchase of a major addition, a 9,004-acre ranch near Springfield, Colorado.^[4]

Mission [edit]

The stated mission of the sanctuary is "to rescue captive big carnivores who have been abused, abandoned, illegally kept or exploited; to create for them a wonderful life for as long as they alive; and to brainwash about the causes and solutions to the Captive Wild fauna Crisis." The sanctuary states that there are many big carnivores living exterior the zoo organization in the United States, including 4000 or then tigers living as pets in Texas lonely, and many of these come from the black marketplace trade in exotic animals.^[ane]

History [edit]

Pat Craig started The Wild Animal Sanctuary when he took in a jaguar cub that he kept on a licensed facility on his family'south farm exterior Boulder, Colorado.^[1] The animals were soon moved to Lyons, Colorado to provide additional space. After viii years in Lyons, a limestone quarry was opened nearby, forcing the sanctuary to move.^[ane]

In 2005, largely because of relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina and the Indonesia tsunami, donations to the sanctuary decreased significantly, and by mid-2006 the staff thought the sanctuary would need to close.^[5] In guild to help raise money, the sanctuary was opened to the public, started selling donated merchandise, brought in more than volunteers, and started a program of sponsoring private animals.^[6]

By 2007 the sanctuary was using 160 acres (65 ha) of its 320-acre (130 ha) site for rescued fauna habitats.^[6] By 2010 it had 240 acres (97 ha) of habitats.^[vii]

In Feb 2011, the sanctuary, in cooperation with Animal Defenders International, Bob Barker, and the Bolivian government (which had recently enacted legislation outlawing performing wild animals), received 25 lions from circuses in Bolivia that had typically housed the lions in crates for send. The sanctuary congenital a material covered construction isolated from the primary facility to firm the lions while they got acclimated to the Colorado climate, and while iv twenty-acre (eight.one ha) outdoor enclosures were being prepared.^[viii] The first of the prides, picked because they "announced to be close-knit and familiar with each other", was outset immune access to their large outdoor habitat on April xiv, 2011.^[nine]

The additional 80 acres (32 ha) of enclosures created for the Bolivian lions took up the remainder of the existing sanctuary property, but after in 2011, a donation allowed the sanctuary to purchase another 400 acres (160 ha), expanding the site to 720 acres (290 ha) and providing space for future expansion of the habitats.^[ten]

In May 2012 the sanctuary completed the "Mile Into the Wild" walkway. This 4,800-foot (ane,500 one thousand) walkway has let visitors view and photo the animals in their large habitat areas from higher up, and at the time connected the original holding area and education building with the Bolivian Lion House and a new parking lot that was built for the increasing number of visitors. In addition, the county paved the route to the sanctuary, making access easier.^[10]

Mile Into the Wild walkway approaching the Bolivian Lion Firm

Facilities [edit]

Bear enclosure with shade structures, water tank, and "dens" in the foreground

Water characteristic under construction in 2012

The sanctuary aims to eventually get all of their animals into big acreage habitats. It designed with a central compound for receiving new animals and starting their recuperation and acclimation into these larger habitats.^[xi] The lower flooring of the primary chemical compound houses tigers, and the upper floor is an didactics heart.^[12] The animals in this area have indoor/outdoor enclosures with play structures, and heated areas for the wintertime. The common pool expanse where tigers tin can take turns playing includes a waterfall.^[thirteen]

As of 2013, the sanctuary had 26 big five-to-25-acre (2 to x ha), species specific habitats^[13] that are domicile to over 330 African lions, tigers, bears, leopards, cougars, timberwolves and other big carnivores.^[1] Habitats include pools for swimming and underground dens that stay at a constant temperature twelvemonth round.^[13] Visitors tin can view these animals in their natural habitats from elevated walkways accessed from the pedagogy eye.^[12]

In the summer of 2016 a new 48,000 square pes welcome center was opened and an additional 1/2-mile of elevated walkway was added.^[14] On Oct 31, 2016, Guinness World Records certified that the Wild Animal Sanctuary'south elevated walkway was the world's longest footbridge at i.51 miles (7,974 feet, two,430 meters), supplanting the Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge.^[15]

In spring 2018, with the Keenesburg site accounted at capacity, and no local expansion options, partly due to expanding oil and gas operations,^[sixteen] the sanctuary announced the buy of an additional property of ix,004 acres in the southeastern function of the state. The new $7M property, dubbed "The Wild Animal Refuge", is between the towns of La Junta and Springfield, mainly in Baca Canton, the residuum in Las Animas Canton. In contrast to the plains of Keenesburg, the new location has a variety of wild terrain, including pine woods, canyons, caves and rocky areas. As of January 2022, the sanctuary has constructed more than 30 large acreage habitats at the Refuge and currently cares for more than 150 rescued Lions, Tigers, Bears, Wolves and other animals there. The Refuge is not be open to the public due to its remote location; the Keenesburg location volition remain the public education and outreach center.^[17] ^[18] To help pay for the new property, the sanctuary launched the Founder Program to offer various incentives for new donations.

In 2020, the AZA-accredited International Exotic Creature Sanctuary in Boyd, Texas joined the Wild Fauna Sanctuary network when their possessor retired. The International Exotic Animal Sanctuary was subsequently renamed "The Wild Animate being Sanctuary-Texas" ^[xix]

Education [edit]

Estimates in 2007 were that 25,000 or more wildlife were living in captivity outside the zoo arrangement in the United States. Many of these are mistreated or abused, and many are beingness kept illegally.^[6] ^[20] The Wild Animal Sanctuary believes that education virtually these animals is critical to informing the public and helping to provide meliorate weather condition for the animals. The visitor center at the sanctuary provides information about these animals, and the sanctuary has speakers who exercise presentations for a diversity of organizations.^[1]

Notes [edit]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^grand ^h ⁱ "History". wildanimalsanctuary.org. The Wild Beast Sanctuary. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
^ "Species". wildanimalsanctuary.org. The Wild Fauna Sanctuary. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
^ "The Wild Creature Sanctuary". wildanimalsanctuary.org. The Wild Animal Sanctuary. Retrieved January xx, 2015.
^ "Wild Fauna Sanctuary adds 9,004 acres to its Colorado operation". www.prnewswire.com . Retrieved July 22, 2018.
^ Scalera, Toni (Baronial 2006). "America'due south largest wild animal sanctuary closing". yourhub.com. YourHub.com. Retrieved March nine, 2010.
^ ^a ^b ^c Kaufmann, Ballad (July 2007). "Wild Animal Sanctuary". rd.com. Reader's Assimilate. Retrieved March 9, 2010.
^ "Mile Into The Wild Walkway". wildanimalsanctuary.org. The Wild Animal Sanctuary. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
^ Leib, Jeffrey (Feb 14, 2011). "Colorado sanctuary to take lions rescued from Bolivian circuses". denverpost.com. the Denver Postal service. Retrieved June xvi, 2012.
^ "Bolivian circus lions in Keenesburg get commencement taste of wide open space". denverpost.com. the Denver Postal service. Apr 14, 2011. Retrieved June 17, 2012.
^ ^a ^b ""Mile Into the Wild" Walkway At present Open". live5news.com. WorldNow and WCSC. May 23, 2012. Retrieved June 16, 2012.
^ "Facilities". wildanimalsanctuary.org. The Wild Animal Sanctuary. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
^ ^a ^b Greene, Brett (2009). "Experience the Beauty of Exotic Animals in Their Natural Habitat at the Wild Animal Sanctuary". huffingtonpost.com. The Huffington Post. Retrieved March 9, 2010.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Major Programs". wildanimalsanctuary.org. The Wild Animate being Sanctuary. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
^ Fall 2016 Newsletter p. 42
^ "Scott Lyttle on Instagram: "Pretty absurd to be part of an official Guinness World Record today, doing the official survey measurement for the worlds [sic] longest footbridge…"". Instagram. Archived from the original on December 25, 2021. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
^ Knuth, Sara. "Wild Brute Sanctuary purchases 9,004-acres to expand in southern Colorado". The Tribune . Retrieved July 22, 2018.
^ Kirk, Alexander. "Wild Animal Sanctuary adds 9,004-acre refuge in southern Colorado". KUSA . Retrieved July 22, 2018.
^ Skilling, Chaney (July 21, 2018). "Wild Fauna Sanctuary expanding to southern Colorado subsequently purchasing 9,000-acre ranch". The Denver Post . Retrieved July 22, 2018.
^ "Boyd Texas". wildanimalsanctuarytexas.org. The Wild Animal Sanctuary-Texas.
^ "MU Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital Improves Leg Deformities in Abused Tiger". missouri.edu. Academy of Missouri. Retrieved March thirteen, 2010.