I’ve written about a lot of different wildlife recently: potential bear sightings, stories of the wayward moose that met with a tragic ending and even photos from the buffalo roundup in Custer State Park. Over the weekend, I encountered some wildlife of a very different type – a type that is definitely not native to the Black Hills of South Dakota.

The Spirit of the Hills wildlife sanctuary is a non-profit animal rescue organization that provides a safe home for abused, neglected or otherwise misplaced animals. Yesterday I visited the sanctuary, near Spearfish, and was pleasantly surprised with what I found.

I was expecting it to be something along the lines of a petting zoo; boy was I wrong! There was everything from pigs to parakeets, llamas to lions and everything in between. The variety of animals housed at the sanctuary literally rivals that of many zoos that I’ve been to.

When I first entered the gates, I was greeted by a couple of chickens, a flock of geese and a friendly pot-bellied pig, all allowed to roam free and enjoy the 200 acre complex. As I walked through the first half of the sanctuary grounds, I saw black bears, brown bears, wolves and emus just to name a few.

As I headed up the hill and into the back part of the sanctuary, I literally stopped in my tracks as I rounded a corner and came face to face with a crouching mountain lion. Like all of the other potentially dangerous animals, he was safely secured inside a double-fenced enclosure, but it was still quite a shock.

The back half of the sanctuary grounds houses an impressive collection of large cats including mountain lions, African lions, several breeds of tigers, a pair of leopards and countless others. The big guy shown above is one of four enormous male lions that we saw.

During the summer months, the Spirit of the Hills wildlife sanctuary is generally open for tours Tuesdays through Sundays. It really is an incredible place that makes it obvious that the animals and their well-being are the number one priority. I highly recommend that you visit next summer while you’re in the Black Hills. It’s an experience that you won’t soon forget.