Lions, Tigers, and a Lot More!
Great Bend Zoo & Raptor Center Continues to Grow in Size and in Popularity

A young great-horned owl isn’t always aware of his limitations and that first leap can be a doozy. The owlet may find himself sitting on the ground, wondering what his wings are for while he discovers he is at the mercy of Mother Nature.

“Great horned owls are notorious for jumping out of the nest before they are ready,” said Mike Cargill, director of the Great Bend Zoo & Raptor Center. “They are like teenagers – ready to go before they have the ability to be on their own.

“But they find the world is a cold, cruel place,” Cargill elaborated. “Many die of starvation. They are on the ground with little chance of survival. In the wild, mom will care for them, take food to them. But in town, he’s totally on his own.”

Nevertheless, if a young owl is discovered by a human and taken to the new Raptor Center, he has a good chance of surviving. The center opened April 18, with a mission of protecting and conserving raptors through rehabilitation, education, research, and habitat preservation.

Peek-A-Boo – Three students try to catch a glimpse of a ferocious lion as they peek into the lions’ exhibit at the Great Bend Zoo. Despite the availability of oversized “kitty toys,” the lions spend most of their hot summer days lounging in the shade of a rock shelter in the exhibit.

“We provide a safe, secure place for them to go through adolescence or be rehabilitated,” Cargill explained. “When they leave here, they are capable of flying, defending themselves and fending for themselves.”

Employees of power companies and state entities such as the Kansas Department of Wildlife & Parks and the Highway Patrol sometimes find owls, falcons and other birds of prey that need the human touch. And sometimes individuals find raptors.

“We really need to pick them up,” Cargill stressed. “It’s against the law for someone to pick up a bird without a permit. We will pick them up so there is no question about it.

“An owl, for example, can be a real hazard,” Cargill added. “They are totally capable of using their talons that can cause serious injury.”

If a bird can be rehabilitated, it will spend seven days at the Raptor Center for triage and other medical treatment; the public can view the bird through the glass. It then is taken off-site for 14 days of limited flight. The next stop is the 120-by-20-foot flight pen at the Larned Correctional Mental Health Facility.

Learning Experience – Students from Great Bend High School take in the sights and sounds of the Great Bend Zoo during a class field trip. “The zoo is all about education,” says Zoo director Mike Cargill. “Our job is to take people all around the world to experience all the different types of animals and creatures out there, all within the confines of our ever-expanding zoo and raptor center.”

“This is the final stage of flight observation – to ensure they can survive on their own,” Cargill said. “Can he fly? Can he negotiate turns? Can he land? Can he get food and water? Can he fend for himself?

“The inmates at Larned built the facility and had the observation training,” Cargill added, noting all data collected goes into the bird’s file. “There is no interaction between people and birds there. It is solely for observation; they record the activities.”

When a bird can be released, it first re-visits the Raptor Center for final blood work. Then it’s off to a suitable habitat.

The blood work collected will help the center reach its goal of being an education center. Part of this, Cargill said, will be developing baseline blood work for birds that migrate in the central flyway; the center will work in conjunction with Kansas State University, Fort Hays State University and Barton County.

“If we can get a baseline, then we can identify changes in blood over a period of time,” Cargill notes. “We can see if there are spikes and the reason for them.

Birds’ Eye View – Inside the new Raptor Rehabilitation Center at the Great Bend Zoo, visitors can experience all aspects of a birds’ life, as well as the perspectives of many other types of creatures. Several free-standing exhibits allow observers to see up-close and personal the different types of creatures in the wild. One exhibit soon to come will even allow visitors to interact with nature from a “birds’ eye view.”

“For example,” he continued, “if there is a bird kill, we can pick them up and see if they all suffered from the same problem. If they did, it could indicate the release of a toxin.”

This information then could be forwarded to Homeland Security, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and to other bird rehab facilities. Graduate and research students would also be interested.

Great Bend’s Raptor Center is one of only a handful of such federally funded facilities in the United States; Sen. Pat Roberts was instrumental in securing $670,000 for the project. One of its many goals is providing professionalism to the field, Cargill said.

“We want to get data collected properly and handled properly,” the director said. “Vets do the surgeries and other rehab work in a facility designed for it. There is a protocol for moving birds through the system for maximum release-ability.

“They have to be released back into the wild; it is federal law,” Cargill added. “If they cannot be rehabbed, they won’t be here. If they can be saved, we will save them.”

Sunny Sights – A mother and her child wander the pathways of the Great Bend Zoo on a sunny afternoon in early summer. “We are busy all year round,” says Zoo Director Mike Cargill. “Obviously we have ups and downs with the weather, but our exhibits are very popular and draw people from all over the state.”

The newly updated zoo, along with the Raptor Center, are not only giving a boost to their birds and beasties, they are a big part of the local eco-tourism effort. The facility collaborates with the new Kansas Wetlands Interpretive/Educational Center at Cheyenne Bottoms, Quivera National Wildlife Refuge and the National Wetlands & Wildlife Scenic Byway.

“We have incredible potential here,” Cargill said. “We are the central flyway between two wetlands of international importance. The migrations over our heads rival the migrations in Africa. There are thousands and thousands of stories to tell about the birds that migrate over our heads – incredible stories of survival.

“We are a blessed area to have access to this type of tourism possibility,” Cargill added. “We are on the cutting edge of it. The zoo and the city have really spent time and energy with the idea of economic development. And this is a green economic development project. We are not polluting anything. This serves as a great visitors’ center.”

A survey by the Great Bend Convention & Visitors Bureau has indicated early success with the zoo’s eco-tourism efforts. “The feedback so far is extraordinary,” Cargill said. “People are impressed with a facility of this magnitude in a small community. Our zoo is on the verge of being compared to big zoos in the country.”

To help bring even more national attention to the zoo, Cargill and his staff are taking steps toward accreditation by the American Zoological Association.

“This would mean you are at the same level as the Bronx and San Diego zoos,” Cargill said. “Our animal care meets the accreditation standards without any trouble. But guest services and education, the whole gamut of what zoos do, are considered. We have a gift shop and education programs. Now we are crawling over other hurdles.”

 

Great Bend Zoo & Raptor Center

The new Raptor Center is now the entrance to the Great Bend Zoo at Brit Spaugh Park, 2200 Main. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily but the animals start moving to their nighttime quarters at 4:30 p.m. for safety and security reasons.

Daily, 15-minute shows are open to the public and a variety of tourist and school groups in the 6,000-square-foot raptor facility. Monday through Saturday, show times are 11 a.m. for birds; noon for alligators; and 2 p.m. for snakes. On Sundays, the order remains the same but the hours are 1, 2 and 3 p.m.

Admission to the Zoo & Raptor Center events is free.

Just a few examples of the creatures awaiting visitors are: African spurred tortoise, bald eagle, Bengal tiger, black bear, clown trigger fish, coatimundi, eagle owl, emu, grivet monkey, grizzly bear, leopard, lion, macaw, peregrine falcon, python and vultures.

The Great Bend Zoo usually draws about 60,000 visitors annually, but Director Mike Cargill anticipates that number could grow by as much as 10,000 this year because of a local and national upturn in zoo visitation.

 

For more information, contact:

Great Bend Zoo & Raptor Center
c/o City of Great Bend
Great Bend, KS 67530
620-793-4111