Back to Nature at Bearizona

There may be no more entertaining way to see a wide variety of North American mammals up close than at Bearizona, northern Arizona's wildlife park. Sprawling in a corner of the state's vast ponderosa pine tree forest, the site offers several ways to see many native animals like bobcats and black bears, along with several species of birds, through a drive-through safari, a meandering zoo, and scheduled performances starring its non-human residents.

Writing about my first visit initially tempts me to draw comparisons to a Disney cartoon as some of the critters are just so darn cute and approachable. Isn't that black bear lazily sprawled in the dirt, with his outstretched leg resting on a tree trunk, Baloo from "Jungle Book?" And that red fox in the zoo looks as adorable and happy as any of the frolicking canines in "The Fox and the Hound."

Are these animals going to cut loose and actually sing? Well, almost. I had to think of P. T. Barnum as we stumbled upon one of the shows, where handlers were directing a porcupine in various choreographed routines. The quill-laced animal seemed quite content to walk up ramps and through a trainer's legs in return for treats. Who knew a porcupine could perform in such an agile manner without shooting dangerous darts at its trainer? I for one did not and was as amazed as if I had seen a man safely remove his head from a lion's mouth at an old-fashioned circus.

Falconry is another pastime as ancient as civilization, and Bearizona presents at least three daily raptor shows lasting twenty-five minutes. While the park-like setting is fertile habitat for native bird-life, with the exception of one juvenile Steller's jay sipping at a fountain I mostly saw garrulous ravens filling the treetops and the grounds. But the well-scripted bird of prey production provided a breathtaking chance to see a number of captive owls and hawks up-close as the handlers directed them in thrilling flights millimeters above the awestruck audience members' heads.

But it might be a Jack London book that I want to reference as I think of the words and the mood and the impression that a visit to the wildlife park kindles. Driving through the safari, safely protected in my car behind shatter-proof glass, I paused in the wolf habitat to observe one tundra wolf in particular. Laying close to the paved road on a warm, late summer afternoon, he curiously watched all the vehicles and visitors pass by. And then he looked at me, or maybe at his reflection in the separating glass, for a brief moment, a fraction of the many seconds I spent focused on him.

Could I see the call of the wild in his golden eyes? After living its entire life in captivity, well fed and safe, far from the Yukon wilderness, probably not. But what I did see in his gaze was a reflection of my own desperate longing to get back to nature and its beauty. Bearizona does a really good job of quenching that insatiable hunger while continuously delighting you.