Today has been awesome. I got to spend it with Nathan, my son, who is here visiting from Portland. We went to the Wild Animal Sanctuary and had a wonderful, relaxing stroll as we watched all the animals come out to enjoy the sunshine. This gorgeous tiger laying in the bark is a kind of a long stretch for the theme this week but time with Nate trumps the blog any day.
Tiger at Wild Animal Sanctuary
Fujifilm X-E2 • Fuji XF18-135mm lens • 135mm • F/7.1 • 1/90s • ISO 500
I spent the day at the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg with Lara and our niece, Tasha. The mile long, raised walk way is truly incredible in terms of offering the public a birds eye view of all the habitats as well as it being non disruptive to the animal who have found sanctuary at this home.
Every time I visit this 720 acre refuge, I am more in awe of the long term vision this organization has for caring for its rescued lions, tigers, bears, and wolves. The facility itself is a testament to quality of care they give these animals. Knowing they could not add stress to the already troubled animals by allowing the public in to view their habitats at ground level, they simply chose to not allow visitors at all for many years. It wasn't until 2002 that the sanctuary was able to build this ingenious, unobtrusive observation system. The animals do not consider the sky part of their territory and could care less about all the strangers that come to see them everyday.
This innovative concept of elevated walkways and viewing decks is such a remarkable breakthrough, it is changing the way other facilities where wild animals are kept in captivity design their observations systems, protecting the dominion and freedom of the animals.
"Mile into the Wild" Walkway
Fujifilm X-E2 • Fuji XF18-135mm lens • 25.4mm • F20 • 1/75s • ISO 200
The Wild Animal Sanctuary near Keenesburg, CO is one of my favorite places to spend time in the spring and summer. Yesterday was my first winter's visit with the little guys. Despite the blistering wind and very cold temps, we all had a great time viewing the lions, tigers and bears (oh my) from the one mile long elevated walk way. I watched these two tigers pre-cuddling. 20 seconds after I snapped this photo of the napping invitation, they were spooning in that same spot, soaking in the sun rays and blissfully napping. This was the pace out there yesterday. Lots of napping and den warming which doesn't really require high shutter speeds. Still, I hope you enjoy the beauty and wholesomeness of this moment as much as I did.
Let's Take a Nap
Nikon D3200 • Nikon 55-200mm lens • 200mm • F/5.6 • 1/1600s • ISO 400