Education: The Key to Ending the Exotic Animal Trade

For more than 30 years, Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge has provided a lifetime home to survivors of the Exotic Animal Trade. Tigers kept as pets. Lions bred for profit. Big cats used for entertainment, cub-petting, and roadside attractions. Animals who arrived in need of medical care, proper nutrition, space, and the opportunity to simply be wild.

Every rescue gives an animal a second chance. But rescue alone cannot stop the cycle.

To change the future for captive wild animals, we have to change what people know today.

That is why education has always been at the heart of Turpentine Creek’s mission.

Rescue Opens the Door to Education

Since TCWR was founded in 1992, the stories of the animals who call the Refuge home have helped people understand the realities of keeping wild animals in captivity.

Visitors may arrive excited to see a tiger or hear a lion roar, but they leave knowing much more.

They learn why a tiger does not belong in someone’s backyard. Why declawing a big cat can cause lifelong health problems. Why cub-petting fuels a cycle of breeding and exploitation. Why accredited sanctuaries never breed, buy, sell, trade, or allow public contact with the animals in their care.

Most importantly, they learn that the choices we make can either contribute to the exploitation of wild animals or help protect them.

Over the years, TCWR has expanded that education far beyond a visit to the Refuge. Guided tours, school field trips, community programs, camps, classroom presentations, educational resources, and online programming have allowed us to reach students and families throughout Arkansas and beyond.

In 2018, TCWR expanded this commitment by establishing a dedicated Education Department. In 2020, our educational programs grew beyond the Refuge through online resources designed to bring wildlife education into classrooms and homes.

What began with sharing the stories of rescued animals has grown into an effort to inspire the next generation to protect wildlife.

Why Education Matters

The animals at Turpentine Creek cannot be returned to the wild. Many were born in captivity, privately owned, bred for entertainment, or passed between facilities before finally reaching sanctuary.

We cannot change their past.

But their stories can help change the future.

When someone learns the truth behind cub-petting, they can choose not to participate. When families understand the realities of exotic animal ownership, they can help prevent another wild animal from becoming a pet. When children learn why wildlife belongs in the wild, they carry that understanding with them into adulthood.

Education turns rescue stories into action.

It also allows TCWR to address the problem before another animal needs sanctuary.

For decades, our Rescue Team has answered calls from across the country and around the world. We will continue to be there when animals need us. But success cannot be measured only by how many animals we rescue.

Our ultimate goal is a future where they no longer need rescuing.

Building the Future of Wildlife Education

Today, TCWR’s educational reach is greater than ever.

In 2025 alone, our Education Team reached 59,408 people through educational programs and outreach.

Yet there is still more we can do.

For more than three decades, TCWR has educated visitors without a dedicated, climate-controlled education facility. Programs have grown, our audience has expanded, and the need for wildlife education continues to increase.

Now, we are building a space designed for what comes next.

The Huck Family Education Center, made possible by Liebchen’s Gift Foundation, will create a permanent home for education at Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge.

The new 8,166-square-foot, two-level facility will include climate-controlled classrooms, a big cat atrium, a habitat viewing deck, and improved access for visiting school groups.

It will allow us to welcome more students, expand year-round programming, reach more families, and give educators the tools and space needed to turn curiosity about wild animals into a deeper understanding of their protection.

A student may walk through the doors because they love tigers.

We want them to leave understanding why tigers belong in the wild.

Ours to End

For more than 30 years, Turpentine Creek has worked to give survivors of the Exotic Animal Trade the life they deserved all along.

But every animal at the Refuge represents something bigger.

Their stories show us what happens when wild animals are treated as pets, props, entertainment, or commodities. They also give us an opportunity to make sure future generations do things differently.

The Huck Family Education Center is more than a new building. It is an investment in prevention.

It is a place where rescue stories become lessons, where curiosity becomes understanding, and where understanding can become change.

We dream of a future where wild cats remain wild. Where people no longer seek selfies with tiger cubs or keep exotic animals as pets. Where responsible choices protect wildlife before sanctuary becomes necessary.

Until that day comes, we will continue to rescue.

We will continue to provide Refuge.

And we will continue to educate.

Because the Exotic Animal Trade was created by people—and together, it is Ours to End.

For more info, visit – turpentinecreek.org/ours-to-end