Liberty Wildlife
2600 E Elwood St, Phoenix, AZ
Phoenix, AZ
A working wildlife hospital and open-air campus in south Phoenix where thousands of injured desert animals are healed each year, and where the ones who cannot go back to the wild become close-up ambassadors for the ones that can.
On the south side of Phoenix, near the restored banks of the Salt River, sits one of the busiest wildlife hospitals in the American Southwest. Liberty Wildlife rescues, heals, and releases thousands of injured and orphaned desert animals every year, from tiny hummingbirds to golden eagles, and it opens its doors so the public can watch that work up close and meet the birds who live there for good.
It is part hospital, part sanctuary, and part outdoor classroom. The animals that recover are returned to the wild, but some are too badly hurt to survive on their own, and these become ambassadors: great horned owls, red-tailed hawks, peregrine falcons, and vultures who help teach visitors why the desert's wild creatures matter. Standing a few feet from an owl's unblinking gaze is the kind of encounter that stays with a kid, and a grown-up, for a long time.
What Guests Love
- Meeting rescued eagles, owls, hawks, falcons, and vultures up close
- Watching a real wildlife hospital care for injured desert animals
- Daily programs where handlers introduce the resident ambassador birds
- Learning how hurt animals are healed and returned to the wild
Worth Knowing
- It is a working rehabilitation center, so it is open to visitors only on certain days and hours; check before you go
- Admission is typically free or by donation, and the nonprofit runs on that support
- Mornings are best in the desert heat, both for the animals' comfort and yours
- This is a place to observe animals quietly, not a petting zoo, so follow the handlers' lead
Details
Phoenix, AZ
Learn about Liberty Wildlife
A hospital for wild things
Liberty Wildlife began in 1981 and has grown into one of the largest wildlife rehabilitation organizations in the region, treating many thousands of animals a year. Its patients are the wild creatures of the Sonoran Desert and beyond, hawks tangled in fences, owls struck by cars, songbirds and baby birds fallen from nests, tortoises, and the occasional bobcat or coyote pup, brought in by the public and by other agencies from across Arizona.
The goal for every patient is the same: heal it and set it free. The organization's medical team and volunteers nurse injured animals back to health and release the ones that recover, and the open campus lets visitors glimpse that effort, from the mews where birds regain their strength to the daily rhythm of a real animal hospital at work.
Meet the ambassadors
Not every animal can go home. Some arrive with injuries that leave them unable to hunt, fly, or survive in the wild, and rather than lose them, Liberty Wildlife gives them a permanent home as education ambassadors. Eagles, owls, hawks, falcons, ravens, and vultures perch in shaded enclosures across the campus, each with a name and a story, and handlers bring them out for programs throughout the day.
These close encounters are the heart of a visit. A great horned owl turning its head to fix you with enormous eyes, or a falcon mantling its wings on a handler's glove, turns abstract ideas about wildlife into something immediate and unforgettable. The daily talks explain how each bird came to be there and what its wild cousins need to thrive in a growing desert city.
The feather repository and a mission of respect
Liberty Wildlife runs a program found almost nowhere else: a federally authorized Non-Eagle Feather Repository. When migratory birds in its care die, their feathers, talons, and parts are collected and legally distributed to enrolled members of Native American tribes for use in religious and cultural ceremonies, meeting a real need in a lawful, respectful way.
That program reflects the spirit of the whole place. Liberty Wildlife is not a zoo but a rescue, built around the ideas of healing, education, and respect for the animals of the desert. A visit supports that work directly, and it sends people home looking a little more closely at the hawks circling over their own neighborhoods.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
Things to Do Near Phoenix
Rio Salado Habitat Restoration Area
Adjacent
A restored stretch of the Salt River with trails and wetlands that draw herons, hawks, and songbirds back into central Phoenix.
Phoenix Zoo and Papago Park
About 5 miles
A large desert zoo beside the red sandstone buttes of Papago Park, with the Hole-in-the-Rock formation and desert trails.
Desert Botanical Garden
About 6 miles
A world-renowned garden of cactus and desert plants set among the buttes of Papago Park.
South Mountain Park and Preserve
About 6 miles
One of the largest municipal parks in the country, with desert peaks, overlooks, and miles of hiking and biking trails.