WILD WEST CUISINE
edgewood festival NATURE PARK IN EDGEWOOD HOSTS CHUCKWAGON DINNER
Located in Edgewood is a piece of nature where you can see many wonders. The Wildlife West Nature Park is home to Barbie the porcupine, Bert the horned owl, Dusty the roadrunner, Wile E. Coyote, Spark the bobcat and so many others.
Although the park is open all year, as the weather warms, the park amps up its Chuckwagon Dinners.
“Wildlife West’s zoo is one of the few places where people can be close to and observe wildlife in their natural habitat,” said Roger Alink, executive director of the Wildlife West Nature Park.
At the park, visitors can get a behind-thescenes tour of Koshari, a 500 pound black bear, Wiley Coyote and the newest arrivals – two 8-month-old mountain lions.
Tours start at 10 a.m. and run each hour throughout the day.
On Saturday, June 18, there will be a special presentation by Joe Viljoen from the ChaZen Nature Conservation & Education Center, in South Africa’s Vredefort Dome, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and largest and oldest meteorite structure on earth.
Alink said Viljoen will speak about the efforts to promote wildlife conservation and learn about exciting opportunities for African safaris near their center that will benefit Wildlife West.
Visitors can stay for the Cowboy Chuckwagon and Western Swing Dinner Show, which begins at 6 p.m. Saturday, June 18. Reservations are needed by 2 p.m. Saturday.
Tom Smylie will host a free-flight peregrine falcon show.
Then a barbecue dinner, followed by a live western-swing music performance by the Bucketeers, ending a
The 122-acre park is operated New Mexico Wildlife Association
Wildlife West is home to non-releasable animals of numerous species in native habitats, and it provides natural habitat for free-roaming and migrant species.
It also provides a variety of educational programs for people of all ages, and is perhaps the only zoo in the world that can claim to have been constructed entirely by youth participants.