Wildlife West Nature Park in Edgewood: A zoo for sale

In 1992, it was just a plot of land and a vision. Today it is a zoo with 26 animal species.

Wildlife West Nature Park is a zoo in Edgewood and it has been on the market for sale for 20 years. Owner Roger Alink, 77, is unwilling to sell the park to just anyone. He’s looking for the right fit. A buyer would need a passion for the zoo and to be dedicated to operating the nature park for the long haul.

“It is like having a pet: You love the pet, you work with it, give it all your energy,” said Alink.

He hopes the person who buys the zoo can grow and develop the complex and make it even better.

“It is a turn-key deal, where you can come in and enjoy the fruits of our labor,” Alink said.

The zoo, at 87 N. Frontage Road near Interstate 40, is currently going for $2 million. The cost would include the necessary permits.

He’s trying to sell his passion project because he wants to make sure the zoo keeps going after he’s gone.

“I’m getting old,” Alink said, although he said he would continue to volunteer and work at the park even if he wasn't the owner.

Most of the workers at the park are volunteers. The only paid employees are a janitor and gift shop teller.

Karry Davis is one of the volunteers who has been feeding and playing with bobcats for 13 years.

“I’m a newcomer,” Davis said.

A lot of the volunteers have worked at the zoo for decades.

The zoo deals with turnover when it comes to younger volunteers. Many burgeoning zookeepers get their experience volunteering at the nature park before working at another zoo.

Some of the nature park's volunteers are in the Youth Conservation Corps, a youth employment program that focuses on working in national parks and forests and wildlife sanctuaries.

“Primarily this place was built by Youth Conservation Corps,” Alink said.

He is a licensed contractor who put together the vision and permits for the zoo but the nuts and bolts were done by YCC.

The zoo is largely run and funded through donations. It offers sponsorships for exhibits. People can rent the 125-acre zoo for events like birthday parties and weddings. There are also season events, like a musical festival and the New Mexico Renaissance Celtic Festival.

“Attendance helps, memberships help, but donation is key,” Alink said.

Most of the exhibits have a few plaques from donors sponsoring the animals. Recently the zoo received $25,000 from a family trust.

That donation alone can keep the zoo going for another year. Alink said the overhead cost for a year is $25,000 to $30,000.

The big expenses are food for the animals and vet care.

“Vet care just keeps getting more and more expensive,” Alink said.

The zoo gets many of its animals from rehabilitation centers or it takes in illegal pets. The nature park took in an undernourished bear cub last year.

Walking around the park shows the struggles of some of the animals. One of the birds is missing a leg because it got caught up in wire.

While the animals mostly end up at the zoo for sad reasons, their lives are extended far past what they would be in the wild.

“We do tend to almost double, if not more than double, their life,” Davis said.