Letter from TCWR President

Tanya Smith Founder / President

I am delighted to report that on March 8, we successfully completed relocating 28 big cats to their new home at TCWR in 128 days, thanks to your donations and support. One of the biggest rescue operations in our 20+-year history started October 29, 2012 when I received a call from Crawford County Sheriff, Ron Brown requesting our expert advise. On November 1st, the TCWR team made their first visit to the (Riverglen Tiger Sanctuary) site in Mountainburg Arkansas to prepare a plan to help Betty Young, the 72 -year-old owner of 30 tigers, 2 cougars and 2 leopards. Betty explained, due to her failing health, she could no longer properly care for the big cats. All the RTS animals were geriatric, the youngest being 14 years old. In fact, two of the animals passed away at RTS due to old age before they could be relocated.

After our first visit to RTS, we knew immediate action was required. We quickly moved many of our Big Cats around to create immediate space for some RTS animals to alleviate some of Betty’s pressure to care for so many cats by herself. Four cats were moved to another licensed facility. Next we created a 4.2-acre compound in a lower pasture, now referred to as “Rescue Ridge.” Preparation of the area required a massive clean up before it could be completely enclosed by an 8-foot tall perimeter fence. Then we built twenty 20’ X 50’ enclosures to accommodate the majority of the new animals.

All the new mouths to feed, water, and clean up after have forced us to make some real changes. TCWR hired additional temporary labor and recruited volunteers to help the clearing and construction effort. We also hired more interns for general daily animal care. TCWR is now home to 18 students for the 2013 spring/summer intern group. Nine are previous interns and nine new students started February 1st.

Unfortunately, our grizzly bear, BamBam, took a back seat due to the RTS rescue initiative. Our original plan to start building BamBam’s new habitat in early November had to be delayed after Sheriff Brown’s phone call. Our team is excited to now focus their attention on creating the new Grizzly Bear enclosure BamBam deserves, which we hope to open this spring or early summer. Keep watching our Facebook and website blogs for details.

Our goal is to not only save abused and neglected wildlife, but to also provide for all their needs for a longer and happier life. We believe all animals need large natural enclosures to run, exercise and play. Most of the RTS cats can now stretch their legs, but we still have twenty-eight cats in the main compound that do not have that luxury. We need your help to continuing developing the 459 acres available for the animals to enjoy. Sponsor a habitat today. Thanks for all you do!