After nearly 8 years of living in Colorado (holy crap does time fly!), I finally made it to The Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenseburg! This place is amazing! They have lions, tigers, wolves, bears, coyotes, leopards and even a camel, all living in large habitats with plenty of room to enjoy their lives. The best part is that, unlike zoos and many other sanctuaries, you view the animals from a large overhead walkway. Because these animals don’t have any natural airborne predators, they don’t feel threatened by people up above them. This means they just do what they do and aren’t bothered by all of us gawking at them, and you don’t see any of that really sad pacing that you often see when viewing them from ground level.
Remember the lions that Bob Barker helped rescue from the Bolivian circus? They’re here!
I’m not sure why that fella was inside, but he was the only one I could get a good picture of. Because the enclosures are so large, the animals do sometimes wander off away from the viewing area… but that’s okay! These animals are here because they were lucky enough to be rescued and they can do whatever the heck they want! They’re finally free to enjoy their lives, ya know? Speaking of which, they had signs up all over, sharing many of the rescue stores. Gut-wrenching, that’s the only way to describe them. So sad. There are some horrible people out there. But, thankfully, there are some truly wonderful people out there as well, who are giving their time and money to help save these gorgeous animals!
I think these guys were my favorite:
They were having so much fun with that tire swing! Hilarious! But then, this dude walking around with his tongue out was also pretty darn adorable…
His ears looked so soft, I just wanted to love on him! (Or her????)
So why did I finally make the trip? Because October is a birthday month for me and Emily (Jamie’s daughter) and we both wanted to go there! We also wanted to wear fake mustaches…
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I look like a creeper for sure, but Jamie wins because she looks like a cross between Salvador Dali and the original Zorro! #embarassingpictures
Sorry for that strange and probably disturbing disruption… we now return to our regularly scheduled programing…
After a morning spent oohing and aahing over the critters, we headed to City O’ City for lunch. Now, I always said I’m not going to review COC (or it’s sister Watercourse) for my Mile High Vegan Eats series because I’m focusing on lesser known spots with yummy vegan options (and let’s face it, every veg-head around CO already knows about those two spots!). But. I had to share this lunch with ya real quick because it was so good.
We had the tempura battered shishito peppers with a garlic, sesame and sweet soy dressing to share:
And for my lunch, I went with the Fork and Knife sandwich, which is a big soft pretzel covered with a “meatless” loaf covered with french fries covered in gravy. Oh yah, and there was some kale there too. You know, for healthy.
And that was that. Have you been to any amazing animal rescues or sanctuaries lately?
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Looks like a fantastic way to celebrate birthdays – mustaches and all :-{)!
Haha, thanks, it was! PS- thanks for continuing the theme and including a mustache in your comment š
Aw, these are adorable animals! The Wild Animal Sanctuary looks amazing!!!!
It is amazing, I highly recommend you visit!
Great pics!
It’s more the camera than me š
Salvador Zorrita Dali, here. ‘Oh the persistence of memory’ as I gaze through the spectacular photos of ‘swans reflecting elephants’ and hilariously written account of adventure! Reading this was almost as meaningful as when I fought for justice in Mexico!
Seriously, though, we had a blast with you!! Forks and knives burger was like a ‘Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening’ I’ll stop. I’ll stop.
LMAO you are officially bonkers. Did you spend the morning googling Salvador Dali!??
Sorry, the Salvador Dali mustache took over in that last comment. #powerful happy birthday to the birthday girls. I’m glad I could be part of so much fun and good food!
Don’t feel bad…I’ve been in CO my whole life and I’ve never been to the animal sanctuary! It’s funny though, I was just talking about it with someone else about going . . . great pictures!! Happy birthday!
It’s an amazing place, you MUST go! I bet your kiddo would love it!
I’m so glad you finally went (after years of me telling you to š ) Every time we go it’s a different and amazing experience. We went last year on the day of the eclipse and the wolves started howling as the eclipse hit it’s peak and it was chilling and unforgettable.
At the Starz Film Fest here in Denver this year they will be showing Lion Ark, which documents the Bolivian Lion rescue effort. Hopefully they will release it on DVD because the staff of TWAS and all who were involved deserve recognition for their tireless effort to improve the lives of animals.