Mission: The Wild Animal Sanctuary was founded in Boulder, Colorado in 1980, and has been operating for more than 41 years. The refuge is open to supporters daily, and is run by staff and volunteers. The Wild Animal Sanctuary operates three accredited sanctuaries for abused and abandoned great cats and bears. The rescued animals are not bred, sold, or otherwise commercially exploited in any way. The Sanctuary has two facilities located in Colorado and one in Texas, and utilizes more than 10,500 acres to shelter 650 lions, tigers, bears, leopards, mountain lions, wolves and other large carnivores. The Sanctuary operates the largest carnivore sanctuary network in the world, and its facilities are the only sanctuaries that provide large acreage (5 to 300 acres in size) species-specific habitats for their rescued animals. The Sanctuary also provides direct on and off-site education to more than 2,000,000 people per year concerning the Captive Wildlife Crisis. (Less)

The Wild Animal Sanctuary is a 501(c)(3) organization, with an IRS ruling year of 1999, and donations are tax-deductible.