Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center

A fantastic animal sanctuary (NOT A ZOO) caring for a wide variety of orphaned and mistreated animals many of whom were someone’s illegal pet. Their collection includes mountain lions and bears, wolves, coyotes, Bobcats, foxes, leopard and more, that for a variety of reasons can never be re-​released into the wild. We greatly enjoyed our visit on a warm February afternoon led by a very engaging and knowledgable volunteer named Sunny («like the weather») and HIGHLY RECOMMEND it to anyone who cares about animals.
NOTE: you MUST make a reservation ahead ($ 25 donation per person) via their website. The funds are used to feed and provide veterinary services for the animals.
Things to know:
— tour takes about 2 hours
— parking isn’t really marked but is just at the end of the gravel road
— group sizes are limited so reserve in advance (there were 25 in our group)
— not a great place for really little kids (it’s NOT A ZOO) — as they likely won’t be interested in all of the stories about how the animals came to be in their care
— you are escorted around by a volunteer and need to all stick together
— you will hear some really sad stories about how some of the animals came to reside here
— you will get to see a lot of animals up close — our Gide gad a bucket of «treats» (raw chicken, salmon, carrots, peanut butter, grapes) that were given to the animals that drew them in right up to the fence — you will be just a couple of feet away from them
— bring water or buy a bottle from them for $ 1
— it’s a little unclear where to go for the tour (no signs) just walk past the brown building and meet under the pavilion
DON’t MISS THIS!

The work done here by these people is just so wonderful. It’s a rescue, rehab and release facility, but there are also full-​time residents who can’t be returned to the wild for various reasons and the guides tell you about each one of them as you go through and see them. I’ve toured this place 3 times, including one of their special evening tours. Great informative day trip for kids. Nice little gift shop, too. And you can also do a sponsor adoption of the permanent resident animals and they’ll send you a photo of the one you choose and it includes a tour for two.

What a wonderful place!!! The people here have put countless hours into making an animal sanctuary that is safe and healthy for abused and mishandled wild animals. The sanctuary is so well maintained and even though it is organized cages it doesn’t feel that way. There is vegetation everywhere, pools for the bears, climbing areas for the cats, everything for each animals individual needs. Go for a tour, it’s wonderful!

Very nice tour and information about native wild life. It’s great to learn the majority of animals are released back into the wild. Very sad stories about these beautiful animals being purchased as babies for pets. People are idiots!