Rare opportunity to tour state wildlife treatment and rehabilitation facility
The Arizona Game and Fish Department is offering the public a rare glimpse into the Adobe Mountain Wildlife Center at a free open house from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 21 and Sunday, Nov. 22.
“Visitors will have the opportunity to see eagles, hawks, reptiles and other animals, view educational displays, and meet wildlife experts,” said Sandy Cate, coordinator of the center. “This event will be fun and educational for the entire family.”
The Adobe Mountain Wildlife Center is a wildlife triage, treatment and rehabilitation facility operated by Arizona Game and Fish in cooperation with the nonprofit Adobe Mountain Wildlife Center Auxiliary. Its original focus, when founded in 1983, was on treating and rehabilitating sick and injured wildlife.
Although the center continues to provide immediate triage and rehabilitation services—more than 1,000 sick or injured animals are brought to the facility annually—emphasis has shifted more toward wildlife education. Staff and volunteers conduct educational outreach programs at events and schools across the state, reaching more than 100,000 Arizonans a year.
“With most of the animals brought to us, we provide immediate treatment before they can be transferred to another care facility, or we try to rehabilitate them for release back into the wild,” said Cate “In some cases, however, the animals are either too injured or dependent on humans to be released. Those animals, depending on their temperament, become education animals. They travel with us around the state and are used in classrooms, school educational displays, and in booths at wildlife festivals and other public events.”
The Adobe Mountain Wildlife Center is located north of Pinnacle Peak Road just west of I-17 in Phoenix. It is on the same property as the Adobe Mountain Juvenile Detention Center. Officers and volunteers will be giving directions for parking once at the facility.
Admission and parking for the open house are free and food will be available for purchase.
For more information about the Adobe Mountain Wildlife Center, go online to www.azgfd.gov/wildlifecenter.