The Wild Animal Sanctuary is less than hour east of Denver near Keenesburg, Colorado. The admission is $50 (as of 2024) for adults 13 and over. There are reduced rate entry fees for kids and seniors. Be sure to check, but it’s open almost daily year round
1. Animals
The main attraction and reason for your trip – the 650 animals that call the Wild Animal Sanctuary home. All the animals are rescued and in various stages of rehabilitation. Some of the animals you’ll see in smaller enclosures, which means they are acclimating to their new environment. The goal is to rehabilitate the animals to be able to roam freely in larger areas. The day of our visit we were lucky and saw tigers, bear, lions, leopards, birds, fox, and wolves.
If you visit during the summer, it’s recommended to schedule your time for later in the day. The animals tend to nap more during the heat of the day at this time of year. If you’re there in the winter – the animals tend to roam freely during the day time hours.
2. Education
We learned so much visiting the Wild Animal Sanctuary! Your entrance begins with an informative video about how their facilities/locations work and the goals when rescuing the animals.
There are also guides readily available along the viewing area and we took advantage to learn a bit more from them. Since it was winter when we visited – I was curious if the bears still hibernate in captivity. Our guide told us about the “caves” the sanctuary built to resemble their natural habitats. We learned bears do hibernate here, but they come out to stretch – as they don’t sleep nonstop all winter.
3. Views
There’s a 1 1/2 mile raised walking platform to view the animals (3 miles round trip). It’s interesting to learn the animals don’t view the sky as their territory, so they don’t feel threatened (or pace) when observed from above.
The Rocky Mountains are showing off from here as the range is in full view. It’s also an incredible spot to watch a sunset!
During your visit to Colorado, put the Wild Animal Sanctuary on your list of things to do. It’s a great day for young and young at heart!
Until the next adventure – bon voyage
Kris
