Keenesburg’s Wild Animal Sanctuary sues developer

Following a public dispute earlier this year between The Wild Animal Sanctuary and a housing developer, the Keenesburg animal rehabilitation center has taken legal action, claiming that a longstanding agreement aimed at maintaining peace between new suburban residents and a population of nearly 1,000 lions, tigers, and bears was breached.

In a lawsuit recently filed in Weld County District Court, the 45-year-old sanctuary accused Wigaard Smith Estates, the developer, of violating a 2010 agreement that mandated the construction of an eight-foot privacy fence and an eight-foot buffer zone between the sanctuary and new housing developments.

The agreement also granted the sanctuary a position on the homeowners association board, allowing them to communicate potential impacts with future residents of the “medium-density residential subdivision in a rural area surrounded by the Sanctuary on three sides and a farm on the fourth.”

“TWAS’s concerns then and now are that individuals purchasing property in the proposed development may not fully comprehend the challenges of living next to the world’s largest concentration of predatory animals. This lack of awareness could lead to increased conflict and potential legal disputes, ultimately harming TWAS and its vital zoological and ecological mission,” stated The Wild Animal Sanctuary in the lawsuit.