I had a WONDERFUL day yesterday. My friend and fellow ActiveRainer, Jeffrey DiMuria, his son Anthony and I went to The Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg, Colorado.
I had learned about the The Wild Animal Sanctuary about a year ago from a show on Animal Plant. Edie Falco (of Sopranos fame) did a show called "Growing up Black Leopard" which followed the life of a baby black leopard named Eddy. I was surprised to learn that Eddy's home was just 30 miles from mine!
Then, in January there was a big piece on the local news about 25 lions that had been rescued from traveling circuses in Bolivia. These cats had lived their entire lives in trailers and cages, sometimes with up to 8 lions all crammed together in one trailer. They had been bred for the circus "life" and had never even seen or felt grass! Once again, there was a reference to The Wild Animal Sanctuary who had taken them in. 
The people at The Wild Animal Sanctuary took in all 25 of these abused and mal-nourished big cats. Game show celebrity Bob Barker generously donated $150,000 to help build a new habitat for the "Bolivian Lions". Their names are: Bam Bam, Morena, Marta, Maria, Rosa, Rosita, Rosario, Campeon, Colo Colo, Muneca, Lulu, Hercules, Panchula, Fida, Kiara, Percy, Bob, Nancy, Pancho, Temuco, Kenya, Chitara, Dalila, Kimba & India.
Click here to see a heartwarming video about the Bolivian Lions Since their rescue
Yesterday, Jeff, Anthony and I went out to take a look at the 320 acre Wild Animal Sanctuary for ourselves. All I can say is that God has a special place waiting for Sanctuary Director Pat Craig and all his volunteers that love and care for the 220+ animals that call this place home! 
The Rocky Mountain Wildlife Conservation Center, doing business as The Wild Animal Sanctuary is the oldest and largest nonprofit sanctuary in North America. 
The Wild Animal Sanctuary has a circular building where incoming animals are introduced to their new home. Here they can adjust and recuperate from whatever trauma they have endured. The really cool part about this area is that there are elevated walkways from which visitors can see the big cats and the other animals in their new home. Some are playing, some are lounging in the water, some are looking straight back at you and many are sleeping peacefully. This large 7,000 sq/ft building is temperature controlled, and is where the big cats stay while being rehabilitated before moving into larger habitats.
The Wild Animal Sanctuary specializes in rescuing Big Cats, but they also take in other carnivores as well. There is 1 camel and 2 horses (not carnivores) which just goes to show you how big hearted Pat Craig is! Some of the different species that you will see at The Wild Animal Sanctuary are:
African Lions 
Tigers
Leopards
Servals
Mountain Lions
Bobcats
Lynx
Wolves
Coyote
Black Bears
Grizzly Bears
the 1 Camel
Coati Mundi (a relative of the raccoon)
Emu
Fox
Raccoons
Horses
When the animals arrive at the The Wild Animal Sanctuary, they are all spayed and neutered so there is no breeding going on. Any babies born at The Wild Animal Sanctuary are solely a result of an incoming pregnant female. The only exception to this is the male African Lions. If the male lion is neutered he will lose all of his beautiful mane and his personality changes dramatically. Therefore, these boys are left intact.
There is one story of two Tigers, a mother and her cub rescued from Minnesota. Their owner had declawed them on all four feet...himself, with bolt cutters. The story's go on and on. It is amazing the cruelty that we humans inflict upon others. Karma people, karma! Thank God for people like Pat Craig at The Wild Animal Sanctuary. Their motto is:
“Saving one animal may not change the World… but surely - for that one animal…
the World will change forever!”
This is a marvelous link to a story done by 60 Minutes Australia on the The Wild Animal Sanctuary
For additional videos about the animals at The Wild Animal Sanctuary click here.
I cannot give a stronger endorsement for The Wild Animal Sanctuary. You simply must visit!
The Wild Animal Sanctuary
1946 County Road 53
Keenesburg, CO 80643
(303) 536-0118
It is open 7 days a week from 9:00am – 4:00pm
Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Day, July 4th and bad weather
Cost: Adults - $10 and Children, ages 3-12 - $5
Click here for a map to the Sanctuary
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