I escaped to Keenesburg, Colorado on Saturday to check out the Wild Animal Sanctuary, one of (if not the) largest wild animal sanctuaries in the United States hoping to get a shot or two of a cat, and also to a lesser degree, to test out our sophisticated new European license plate toll for the Expressway E470. (Theoretically, I should be getting a bill from them in about a month. And if it works, honestly, I don't see why this isn't already implemented everywhere: ESPECIALLY YOU BAY BRIDGE.)



Many of the animals are retired from the entertainment industry or otherwise abandoned (or confiscated) from private owners who weren't capable of caring for them. As a guide at the visitor center informed me, they facility has been here, in a generous patch of Keenesburg surrounded by vast farmlands for nearly 30 years, though it's only been open to visitors for past 5, presumably as a means of helping to cover some of the costs of an $800,000 annual food budget required sanctuary currently running at capacity.



The visitor center and its observation decks (the only areas on the grounds that visitors can actually view the animals from) are unique in that they consist largely of ramps and platforms which put you high above the grounds, so you find yourself looking down at most of the cats, with only wooden slats separating you from certain death. Unfortunately, for the cats closer to the rotunda, that presents the challenge of not only shooting a subject from a near-vertical angle, but also combating the shadows casted by the neighboring mesh; not a great look if you're not expressly going for the 'captive cat' angle.



There are more than just countless tigers though. Leopards, wolves, lions and a bear can be seen also, but as their existence is expressly not one of a zoo, your ability to view (and or photograph) them will depend heavily on their inclination to roam closer to the visiting platforms or its surrounding fences, and a powerful zoom lens (300 mm minimum).

Unlike most zoos, there are no explicit photo restrictions either (at least that I was made aware of), so next time I'm bringing a tripod. (I brought a monopod on this trip, but really found it almost useless at stabilizing a shot with the longer lens). Best times to visit are feeding, 9-10 AM Tues/Thurs/Sat or mornings/evenings in the summer. More info on their website. Go!

Full set here!