Scottsdale animal center helps nurture wild animals

Inside the Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center in Scottsdale, you'll find 100 wild animals, like gray foxes, coyotes and bobcats.

"This is cute now, but at any point, she can use her claws and tear my face off," said Nikki Julien, director of education at the Southwest Conservation Center.

That won't happen to Nikki Julien today, but many of these animals think she's their mom.

"She's all legs, so we call her 'Aranya,' which is the Spanish word for 'spider,'" she said.

This coyote cub came to the center after a family took her in and treated her like a pet. As a result, she's comfortable with people, which is the reason why she'll live in here for the rest of her life.

"When an animal becomes OK with us, not necessarily wanting to be around us but simply OK with us, those are the ones that might go into your backyard and might steal the small dog or might drink out of the pool," Julien said.

Which is dangerous for us and the animal, but there are others here behaving as they should.

"That baby coyote will soon be with foster parents and they'll teach him about how to be a real coyote and then he'll be ready to be in the outside world," Julien said.

But for those like Arayna, who are now making human friends, they'll be used for education or just enjoy sanctuary life in Scottsdale.