When liberty calls: Forever Wild Exotic Animal Sanctuary

Photo By Laurie Pearson | A tiger enjoys a cool soak on a hot day at the Forever Wild Exotic Animal Sanctuary located in Phelan,Calif. (Photo Courtesy: Forever Wild Exotic Animal Sanctuary).  

BARSTOW, CA, UNITED STATES

07.28.2016

Story by Laurie Pearson  

Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow

When looking for entertainment, education, and adventure in the High Desert, you may want to consider visiting the Forever Wild Exotic Animal Sanctuary.
Located at 8545 Buttemere Rd in Phelan, Calif., the sanctuary has been in business for more than 20 years, providing rescue and rehabilitation to exotic animals.
Though most of the animals rescued by FWEAS will remain with the facility for the rest of their lives, explained Chemaine Almquist, founder and owner of the sanctuary, there are now some animals such as the sugar gliders, ferrets, and hedgehogs which are only housed temporarily until they can be transported to Arizona. In Arizona, those animals are not illegal to own so the facilities there can rehabilitate the animals and find forever homes for them in their area.
Otherwise, for the various other animals such as tigers, servals, bobcats, tigers, black jaguars, raccoons, monkeys, desert tortoises, parrots, poisonous snakes, and more, once they arrive at FWEAS, the facility’s employees do their best to provide a safe home staffed with caring people.
“There are two paid employees and about 30 volunteers,” said Almquist. There is consistently such a high rate of interest in volunteering at the facility that they finally had to narrow down qualified candidates.
“Volunteers must be in school, soon to be in school, or just out of school, studying some field of animal care,” she said. “The facility then offers the students an opportunity to get hands-on husbandry experience and practice their skills with the animals.”
Having family members who served in both the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, Almquist and the staff at FWEAS welcome military service members and their families to visit the facility.
“Come relax, enjoy and have a great time learning about the animals,” she invited.
There are fees for tours of the facility which may be self-guided or guided by members of the staff. For a little extra thrill, visitors can pay a little extra for the “Extreme Feed” option.
“Visitors are escorted by a staff member and you get two pieces of meat,” explained Almquist. “You can choose which animal or animals you wish to feed! You can split it up or share with someone else if you’d like.”
The tours, feeding fees and donations go directly to feeding, enrichment, habitat upgrades and medical care for the animals, explained Almquist.
“The cost to operate the facility is approximately $10,000 to $15,000 per month,” she said. “We’re going to go full-solar very soon which will help cut costs in half.”
So, for every tour, every souvenir purchased, the animals benefit.
In 2009 the Almquist family received the great news that they and their sanctuary would be featured on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. The Almquists had spent their funds caring for the animals to the best of their ability but were unable to expand or improve the sanctuary, let alone their own home. Seeing their need, designer Ty Pennington worked with contractors, partners and hundreds of volunteers to rebuild the facility and the family’s home.
The new facilities provide a welcoming feel for guests which was precisely the desire of Almquist and the staff.
“We want to provide a homey feel about the place, and make people feel welcome,” said Almquist. “It’s also family friendly.”
For more information about individual, group, general or guided tours, Extreme Feed options, and fees, go to www.foreverwildexotics.org.
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• Date Taken: 07.28.2016
• Date Posted: 08.01.2016 18:50
• Story ID: 205739
• Location: BARSTOW, CA, US