Jana Frazier

Review of The Wild Animal Sanctuary

I am a former zookeeper and a wildlife biologist. ...

I am a former zookeeper and a wildlife biologist. My husband is a wildlife biologist for the state of Colorado. Our grandchildren came from Australia and since we live very near the sanctuary we were thrilled with the idea of taking them for the experience of communing with wild animals. Their mother is a wildlife vet and their father a bat expert. Their love and reverence for animals is through the roof. Imagine our great disappointment when we were turned away because we could not afford to pay the exorbitant entrance fee. The admissions staff told us the sanctuary existed just for the animals, not people. Well people are animals too and we are deeply and intricately connected to all wildlife on this planet. In my zoo experience it was obvious that the animals were positively stimulated by people passing by, especially children. It broke the boredom wild animals sometimes experience in captivity. Humans have a tendency to love and support what they have a love and intimacy with which fosters understanding. Understanding animals inspires people to save them from extinction. Barring people from this facility is not only exclusionary but very very sad and actually detracts from its supposed vision of helping wild animals.