Ms. War Chief was a bear cub found wandering without her mother around the Taos Pueblo. Weighing less than 10 pounds, she didn’t have the strength to stand. Dr. Kathleen Ramsay, who started the Wildlife Center in the mid-1980s, carefully nourished her until she was strong enough to start taking food. Ms. War Chief was released eight months later weighing 100 pounds.

Kids and adults alike will love the stories at the Wildlife Center south of Española as much as they love seeing the animals. You can take a self-guided tour Wednesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is $4 for adults, $2 for children (ages 3 and under are free).

“The tour has become a great family experience where parents often read the signs to their kids and then they talk about it. Or some kids actually lead the tour for the family using interpretive signs and their own knowledge,” says Donna Neusch, the center’s part-time educational director.

She explains that environmental education research shows there are several ways to engage children to care about nature. “One of the best ways, especially for younger kids, is through animals.”

At the Wildlife Center, kids learn respect for animals. They leave with an awe and wonder at the majesty and skill of these animals and empathy for their injuries and plight. And they get excited about being so close to them, Neusch says.

In particular, kids tend to be amazed by how birds adapt to improve their ability to survive, she says. An example is Pippen, a peregrine falcon that came to the Wildlife Center in 1966 as a juvenile. He was found by the side of road in Hobbs. Because of nerve damage from a dislocated elbow, his wing failed to return to normal.

“Peregrine falcons are the fastest animal on the earth and have been clocked at over 240 miles per hour in a dive after another bird,’’ Neusch says. “Peregrines have an adaptation in their nostrils that allows them to fly this fast, head first and without the force of the air blowing out their brains.”

And kids especially have fun guessing a bird’s weight. “They often guess a great-horned owl between 25 and 50 pounds,” says Neusch, “but our female weighs about 2.5 pounds. The fact that birds have hollow bones, no teeth and few muscles is new to a lot of kids.”

Even though the center has been rehabilitating animals for more than 20 years, the facility wasn’t open to the public until January 2005 when it moved from the half-acre behind Dr. Ramsay’s office to its present location on 20 acres.

The educational tour starts inside with such animals as Sly, a red-eared slider turtle, and Chico, a northern pygmy owl. Outside you follow a walking trail, covering about a quarter mile, to see the rest of the animals.

Director Paul Tebbel says the center has between 25 and 30 raptors and mammals on display including both kinds of eagles (Golden and Bald), five kinds of hawk, eight kinds of owls, three falcons, and bobcats and foxes. “These are all non-releasable animals,” explains Tebbel, “that came to the center because they were sick, injured or orphaned. We were able to keep them alive but in each case were unable to release them back to the wild.”

In addition to education, the center’s main function is as New Mexico’s wildlife hospital. “We are equivalent to your average veterinarian’s office with a surgical room, X-rays and veterinarians on staff. That means when an animal comes in with a broken bone requiring surgery, we can do it right away.”

For more information about the Wildlife Center, call 505-753-9505 or visit www.thewildlifecenter.org. And mark your calendar. The center’s annual open house is held the first or second weekend in May and the free event includes activities and games for the children, as well as tours of the ICU and rehab areas and several birds on display with their handlers.

Ms. War Chief was a bear cub found wandering without her mother around the Taos Pueblo. Weighing less than 10 pounds, she didn’t have the strength to stand. Dr. Kathleen Ramsay, who started the Wildlife Center in the mid-1980s, carefully nourished her until she was strong enough to start taking food. Ms. War Chief was released eight months later weighing 100 pounds.

Kids and adults alike will love the stories at the Wildlife Center south of Española as much as they love seeing the animals. You can take a self-guided tour Wednesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is $4 for adults, $2 for children (ages 3 and under are free).

“The tour has become a great family experience where parents often read the signs to their kids and then they talk about it. Or some kids actually lead the tour for the family using interpretive signs and their own knowledge,” says Donna Neusch, the center’s part-time educational director.

She explains that environmental education research shows there are several ways to engage children to care about nature. “One of the best ways, especially for younger kids, is through animals.”

At the Wildlife Center, kids learn respect for animals. They leave with an awe and wonder at the majesty and skill of these animals and empathy for their injuries and plight. And they get excited about being so close to them, Neusch says.

In particular, kids tend to be amazed by how birds adapt to improve their ability to survive, she says. An example is Pippen, a peregrine falcon that came to the Wildlife Center in 1966 as a juvenile. He was found by the side of road in Hobbs. Because of nerve damage from a dislocated elbow, his wing failed to return to normal.

“Peregrine falcons are the fastest animal on the earth and have been clocked at over 240 miles per hour in a dive after another bird,’’ Neusch says. “Peregrines have an adaptation in their nostrils that allows them to fly this fast, head first and without the force of the air blowing out their brains.”

And kids especially have fun guessing a bird’s weight. “They often guess a great-horned owl between 25 and 50 pounds,” says Neusch, “but our female weighs about 2.5 pounds. The fact that birds have hollow bones, no teeth and few muscles is new to a lot of kids.”

Even though the center has been rehabilitating animals for more than 20 years, the facility wasn’t open to the public until January 2005 when it moved from the half-acre behind Dr. Ramsay’s office to its present location on 20 acres.

The educational tour starts inside with such animals as Sly, a red-eared slider turtle, and Chico, a northern pygmy owl. Outside you follow a walking trail, covering about a quarter mile, to see the rest of the animals.

Director Paul Tebbel says the center has between 25 and 30 raptors and mammals on display including both kinds of eagles (Golden and Bald), five kinds of hawk, eight kinds of owls, three falcons, and bobcats and foxes. “These are all non-releasable animals,” explains Tebbel, “that came to the center because they were sick, injured or orphaned. We were able to keep them alive but in each case were unable to release them back to the wild.”

In addition to education, the center’s main function is as New Mexico’s wildlife hospital. “We are equivalent to your average veterinarian’s office with a surgical room, X-rays and veterinarians on staff. That means when an animal comes in with a broken bone requiring surgery, we can do it right away.”

For more information about the Wildlife Center, call 505-753-9505 or visit www.thewildlifecenter.org. And mark your calendar. The center’s annual open house is held the first or second weekend in May and the free event includes activities and games for the children, as well as tours of the ICU and rehab areas and several birds on display with their handlers.