Rescued From Harm

After driving for about thirty-five miles, we located the entrance to the Wild Animal Sanctuary. After signing in, paying $22.00, (fifteen for me and seven for my granddaughter), listening to instructions, we walked up a ramp to the Mile Into the Wild Walkway that would take us over the animal enclosures. We were told that the sanctuary covers over 700 acres and there are bears, wolves, lions, tigers, lynx, servals, among the animals that have been rescued.

All the animals were in dire conditions when found. Some had been purchased by people who wanted a cute small pet but once the animal grew to its full height they did not know what to do with it. A few animals had out grown their circus acts. Animals kept in a cage to attract customers to gas stations or to malls were rescued.  A bear had been kept tied up to a pole for most of its life. The stories are sad and even though they are away from danger at the sanctuary, they are still not in their own habitat.  In fact, since most of the animals were born from captive animals, they would not know how to behave or how to feed themselves if released into the wild. We saw llamas and a camel but never saw the porcupine. At the sanctuary the animals will live out their lives without fear of being treated badly or ever being sold.

The Walkway is over a mile long and in looking at the animals below we traversed two miles. We watched as the bears were fed what looked like fruits and vegetables.  The large bears like to chase each other and it looked as if they were playing. Two were in a horse trough splashing water at each other. 


The grey wolves were shedding and tufts of fur could be seen on the ground.  They looked like large German Shepherd dogs. The Alpine wolf is all white as sits on a mound of dirt surveying its surroundings.

There are many tigers and with a telephoto lens many poses of the magnificent cats could have been taken.

The lions hang together and sleep cuddled up with each other. One beautiful lion roamed silently through the grass until he decided to let out a roar. The lion's roar was loud and my granddaughter said it sounded as if the lion had a microphone. With a roar like that, I can understand why the lion is king of the jungle!

The howling of the wolves almost sounded like a musical instrument.  We never knew why the wolves were howling their mournful cry but it seemed to echo through the whole sanctuary. Maybe they remembered when they really roamed free!

My granddaughter does not like to have her picture taken and I begged and pleaded with her and finally got one picture with her.  This is a good memento of our time spent at the Wild Animal Sanctuary!