Spread across 175 acres, Keepers of the Wild is an animal sanctuary located on Route 66 in Valentine. The nonprofit is a little over 30 minutes from Kingman and has a fascinating history. It was founded in 1995 by Jonathan Kraft. He started out as an illusionist in Las Vegas who used big cats in his shows. After seeing how the animals were treated, he decided he wanted to make a change. “He decided to put his show on hiatus, and he started rescuing animals from other magicians who wanted to retire them,” says Lara Kraft, vice president, the chairperson and co-executive director of Keepers of the Wild, of her husband. He wanted to give the animals a place to roam free. He initially opened up a sanctuary in White Hills, outside of Las Vegas. He left Nevada, purchased land and founded Keepers of the Wild in 2006.
“Our entire mission is that we consider ourselves to be an educational facility. Every animal is rescued,” says Lara. Visitors can purchase general admission tickets or take one of three guided safari tours. Lara describes the tours as both educational and fun. “It includes history on each animal and how they came to be at the sanctuary, any issues that that animal is facing,” she says. “We’re much different than a zoo in that we do not put our animals on display. They’re in large, wide, open habitats that are usually acres in size.” The sanctuary is home to over 50 different species. Specifically, visitors can expect to see lots of big cats like tigers in addition to camels, llamas, alpacas, bears, deer, tropical birds, coyotes and tortoises. The sanctuary recently took in seven of the cats from The Tiger King Park. An on-site veterinary clinic provides care. The sanctuary prioritizes caring for the animals above all else.
“Every habitat is fully walked and cleaned out, inspected every single day. All of the waters are changed every single day. If you read online reviews, people will comment time and time again that there is no smell when they walk through our sanctuary because it’s so clean,” she says. “We really take pride in offering the highest standard of care possible.” – Teresa K. Traverse
