PROTECTING
CAPTIVE
WILDLIFE
WELCOME to The Wild Animal Sanctuary's
Texas Facility - formerly known as the
International Exotic Animal Sanctuary (IEAS)
TEXAS
The Wild Animal Sanctuary-Texas (TWAS-TEXAS) facility will be closed by the end of this year (2024).
All of the animals living at this facility have already been transferred to The Wild Animal Sanctuary (TWAS) in Colorado. The decision to close this facility revolved around two main concerns.
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This facility only has 41 acres available to be utilized for operations. The facility is surrounded by housing and commercial development, so there is no room for expansion. Being virtually land-locked, it was impossible for us to replace existing cages with updated natural habitats for the animals.
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Given The Wild Animal Sanctuary in Colorado was now in charge of this operation, there was concern for the animals being able to live in much larger enclosures. With the majority of big cats and smaller species living at this facility in more tradition cages - rather than large expansive habitats - a plan was solidified to eventually relocate the residents to a much larger parcel of land.
The Wild Animal Sanctuary has a standard of providing large acreage habitats for all rescued animals, there was no way to give the animals living at this facility the large natural habitats they deserved. The best plan of action would be to continue operating the facility until such time when many of the older animals had finished living out their lives. With only the younger animals remaining, we could relocate them to one of the two Colorado facilities so they could all enjoy larger 20 to 300 acre habitats.
About TWAS
Now that all of the Texas animals are living in large natural habitats in Colorado, we will be closing this Texas facility by the end of the year.
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Supporters of the Texas facility are always welcome to visit the animals in Colorado whenever they would like.
With one 10,000-acre facility located in southeast Colorado and known as The Wild Animal Refuge, as well as the other 1,500-acre facility near Keenesburg, CO (close to Denver) known as The Wild Animal Sanctuary - supporters now have two options to see the animals that previously lived here in Texas.
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Being able to see the Cheetahs and other big cats being able to run freely within massive open spaces has been one of many great outcomes from the move. The Bears now have their very own 135-acre forested ​habitat complete with rock outcroppings and natural dens for winter hibernation.
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Altogether, closing the Texas facility was the right thing to do on behalf of the animals, and many of the staff that worked at this facility are now moving to one of the Colorado facilities to continue helping animals far into the future!
Learn about The Wild Animal Sanctuary and its mission to educate the public about the Captive Wildlife Crisis - as well as rescue, rehabilitate and care for more than 600 Lions, Tigers, Bears and other RESCUED animals.