NEW MEXICO WILDLIFE CENTER, ESPAÑOLA
Off a rural road in Española, the wildlife center’s hospital helps more than 1,000 animals every year. A newborn bobcat kitten, for example, was found on Mother’s Day near a hiking trail in Sandoval County and will need care for at least the next nine months at the center. “These animals cannot go back into the wild,” says Laura Siegel, communications specialist at the center. “They become part of our education team.” Visitors to the center can see desert box turtles, prairie rattlesnakes, lizards, red-tailed hawks, a gray fox, and a raccoon. DON’T MISS: Pica the black-billed magpie. Rescued in 2021, Pica was kept illegally by humans and can mimic some rather unique, people-centric sounds like a soda can opening.
WILDLIFE WEST NATURE PARK, EDGEWOOD
New Mexican animals that have been injured, orphaned, or illegally raised as pets find a happy home at this park in the piñon-covered mountains of Edgewood. “I love wildlife and I always have,” says Roger Alink, who started the park 35 years ago when there was nothing but empty land on site. “I liked the idea of rescuing native species.” Take Maggie, a two-year-old black bear. She was found malnourished and wandering a ranch in Santa Fe after losing her mother. Other native New Mexico species include a mountain lion, gray and red foxes, a barn owl, a bald eagle, and Festus, a turkey vulture. DON’T MISS: All of Wildlife West’s animal caretakers are volunteers. “They come rain or shine, or in a blizzard,” Alink says, “because they love the wildlife.”