Cheetahs and the BBC World Challenge

I stole this picture from Ryan

My friend Ryan Richards is a graduate student at the University of Maryland. We met when I attended the Cheetah Conservation Fund benefit in September (see blog). Ryan spent the summer in Namibia, Africa working with CCF on the Bush Project, the focus of his graduate research. His project is one of 12 finalists in the BBC/World Challenge 2009. The winner is decided by popular vote and I am asking that you help Ryan as well as the cheetahs win this thing!

The Bush Project aims to reduce bush encroachment caused by overgrazing, restore habitat for cheetahs and other wildlife and produce a renewable energy source for a country that is largely dependent on coal and charcoal. At the moment most of the acacia bush that is cleared is turned into Bushblok, a chipped, compressed wood product that looks a bit like a Duraflame log (without any waxy additives). It's marketed in South Africa and Europe as an alternative to charcoal. Our ultimate goal is to develop biomass as a viable electricity source in Namibia, and the World Challenge award would help us pursue that goal (the publicity in the EU and US certainly won't hurt either).

The website for voters is http://www.theworldchallenge.co.uk/ . Click on the pushpin in southern Africa to find out more about the project. Then VOTE!

If you'd like a better idea of the work CCF does, check out their website: http://www.cheetah.org/

Please vote for the Bush Project!

Oh Deer

It's deer season in North Carolina. Although I am not a hunter, Carolina Tiger Rescue is fortunate to have a good network of hunters that bring fresh meat for the cats. I personally think that hunting is only validated if the hunter uses the animal in its entirety. Otherwise, I find it a waste of a precious life. I have come across many hunters who will kill multiple deer for one cut of meat when one doe would have delivered the meat of those six single cuts. The elimination of population surplus or choosing to not take down an animal for one cut is not an issue for the hunters that come to Carolina Tiger. During the season we get multiple deer brought in each week that go out to feed our cats. Tigers will get an entire torso or a deer leg (hoof to hip) in place of one chicken, and small cats will get small portions of one leg or the pelt of the animal. Preparation to feed usually takes about an hour, but once the truck is loaded up it usually looks like this:

Yesterday someone brought in a deer that had been hit on the road. Yes, it may sound strange, but if a person witnesses a deer getting killed on the road we will take it just like one taken down in a hunt. It makes sense to not waste the meat, and we are committed to taking care of our animals. Of course, we always remove the bullet(s) and ensure the meat is good prior to giving it to any animal. It is just another facet of the circle of life at Carolina Tiger Rescue.

We "dress" a deer in similar fashion to a hunter... we skin the animal, remove the internal organs (in the wild cats do not usually consume the intestines of prey, though they will eat some of the larger organs such as the heart and liver and drink the blood for hydration), then remove the limbs. After helping Lauren, head keeper, dress the deer, I decided that Tex needed the deer for breakfast. The legs were given in place of one chicken to other tigers (so instead of receiving two whole, raw chickens one tiger received one chicken and one whole leg). Any tiger on the compound that lives with another tiger is shifted during meal times to prevent fighting. This simply means the tigers are separated in different parts of the enclosures by shift gates. However, I forgot to shift tigers Lucky and Carmelita yesterday morning... they are used to being on a certain side and I thought the gate was down. Lauren and I were about to drive away leaving the two to their respective meals when we realized that in fact I had not shifted them. This could have been a major problem had one tiger finished early and decided to steal the other's meal. A fight would have broken out... probably not to the death, but separating two 400 pound cats with claws that are three inches long is not an easy as separating two young boys in a school yard.

After the shift gate mishap, we shifted tigers Jellybean and Tex with difficulty, as Jelly is a bit jealous and took a swing at Tex when he saw the deer. We pulled the deer into the enclosure (with no tigers in that part) and lifted the deer torso onto a platform. Tex came into the enclosure once we were out surveyed the place first. Tex can be aggressive at times and I expected him to charge me, but he didn't.

The deer carcas is on the platform and Tex surveys the area

Tex immediately pulled the meat off the platform and dragged it around for no apparent reason. He was either showing off to a snarling Jellybean or searching for just the right spot to eat. Like most cats, tigers can pull their own body weight with their jaws. Tex took the meat in his jaws and walked around, heaving his weight on his front legs with the torso in between. Tigers carry the majority of their weight in their forepaws. If you look at tiger you will notice that their front legs are more powerful than their back legs, which differs from cats like the bobcat, whose back legs are much larger for jumping.

Making sure the kill is... killed

Preparing to drag meat to a secure location

We never feed live game to our animals. Although the predator-prey relationship is only natural, it goes against our values as a wildlife sanctuary. The deer we receive at Carolina Tiger Rescue allows the tigers to eat a complete as well as diverse diet. Nothing goes to waste on the compound... no bones, no parts, and as some put it, it keeps us humble.

Special Thanks

I'd like to take a moment to thank one of Carolina Tiger Rescue's tour guides, Pat. I met Pat today and he informed me that he has been reading my blogs! I'm really excited about sharing the lives of these animals with others, and today Pat spread the word about my blog to our visitors on his tour today. Thanks a lot! I was also able to take a moment and listen to how well both Pat and Ruth, another guide, discuss what we do at Carolina Tiger... which is a lot! It is my hope that through this blog I am able to promote the support of these amazing cats in North Carolina while documenting the Days of Their Lives. I learn every day from talented, intelligent individuals who work tirelessly as staff and volunteers and I think it is pretty much the coolest thing ever that I have this opportunity to work with exotic cats. Please keep reading and don't hesitate to let me know what you want to know! Come out for a tour. And, more importantly, visit Carolina Tiger Rescue's website to see how you can get involved with the wildlife sanctuary and get to know our stars!

http://www.carolinatigerrescue.org/default.asp

My favorite picture of Julio.

Wooo For Kinkajous!

Every heard of the honey bear? Some people are under the misconception that this "primate" is related to bears (which doesn't make sense seeing how bears and chimps are not related). The kinkajou, Potus flavus, is a small mammal native to Central and South America with coarse, red fur and a fully prehensile tail. As one of two mammals with prehensile tails (the other is the binturong), "kinks" as we call them are related to raccoons and have long, thin tongues. They use their tail as a fifth limb and often hang upside down. Kinkajous can also turn their feet entirely backwards for ease in coming down trees.   

                                                                        

We have two kinkajous at Carolina Tiger Rescue: Albert and Wednesday. Wednesday used to be someone's pet and was defanged and declawed (an unethical practice in my opinion). Albert was never someone's pet. Both were surrendered to Carolina Tiger years ago. Although they look cute and cuddly, the kinks are a Level 4 on aggression... the same as the tigers. They have very sharp teeth and they are extremely quick. Their little fingers are amazingly human but they emit the most unnatural hissing sound when irritated... which is often. These nocturnal creatures stay inside during the winter since they are not adapted for cold weather. We keep them in the vet room in separate cages next to eachother. They are arboreal so we keep branches and rope in the enclosures for them to climb on.

Albert likes to sleep in newspaper and Wednesday holds on to her tail like a security blanket when she sleeps. I really enjoy spending time with Wednesday because although she hisses and acts unfriendly some of the time, she always pushes her head against the fence so I can use a stick to scratch her head. Since Carolina Tiger is a no touch facility no one can touch the animals, but Wednesday does enjoy being cooed at regardless. Albert... kind of dislikes most people. 

Since they are inside for the winter, the kink enclosures are cleaned each day and enrichment is provided each day as well. Kinkajous love peanut butter and ours will do almost anything for it. They are fed one pound of fruit and vegetables each day.

When kinkajous are waking up, their bodies shake as if they are cold. It is a muscle response and entirely natural.

Here Wednesday is working to figure out how to get the peanut butter inside a plastic cone. Their little hands and long tongues make access much easier.

Kinks do not make good pets. They may weigh a mere five pounds and eat mostly fruit, but they would try to take a bite out of my peanut butter-covered fingers any day. And I'm not sure if it's the peanut butter.

Photos

It's easy to get behind in these blogs because I like to take my time in relaying an event or sort through photos. However, I still have tons of photos that don't make it on here. Here are a few:

Julio after I raked all the leaves out of one side of his enclosure, moved around one of his platforms, and built a low-level platform in a tree for him to climb on. One of the volunteers carved this pumpkin and put chicken inside of it as enrichment for Julio. The carving is of the character Puss in Boots, who has been rumored to look like Julio. Here, he investigates. Pumpkins are always a good toy for enrichment, as the cats (both big and small) can tear into them.

Oliver the ocelot is very shy and rarely comes out of his den box. He loves to smell flavored water (I've never seen him drink it).

Kiowa playing with her scented paper roll. The caracals don't respond to scents the same way ocelots do. Kiowa is very playful and this past week was moved to a new enclosure with Damien caracal. Damien has been alone for some time and Kiowa's enclosure partner, Tailessa, passed recently. Kiowa and Damien are currently working on getting used to eachother but have been successful thus far.

Rajah and Kaela sunning themselves. Most of the tigers at Carolina Tiger Rescue can be found doing exactly the same thing on a regular basis. The tigers also call to eachother during the day using low-level roars or to tell everyone that the territory is theirs. We still call these guys "the cubs" because when they came to Carolina Tiger they were very young. A police officer found them walking down the highway in Wake Forest, NC and we were able to give them a home.

Jellybean came from the Nashville zoo as a surplus cub in a litter of white tigers. White tigers are often irresponsibly bred for the entertainment industry. The white gene is genetically recessive and both parents must have the allele in order for a cub to be white. Only two white tigers have been found in the wild, and this was in the 1950's. Based on the gene being recessive, all white tigers in existence today are related to the original white tiger found in India and are as a result extremely inbred. Oftentimes in the breeding industry extra cubs in a litter of white tigers, or cubs that aren't pretty enough, are euthanized. If an orange cub is born in a litter bred for white tigers, that cub may also be euthanized. Although some of our tigers are clicker trained and enjoy the enrichment, we never ask them to perform. I am very strongly opposed to the idea of using live animals as entertainment and I think that the breeding industry for this market is morally corrupt, particularly when it comes to white tigers.

Jelly got his name because when he came to Carolina Tiger his little pink paws looked like Jellybeans. He is a very vocal cat (lots of moaning and chuffling) and loves to visit on the tours. He has also taught his enclosure buddy, Tex, to be extra talkative. Jelly and Tex spar like housecats sometimes, slapping eachother in the face and sprinting around like maniacs. It is not usually seriously aggressive, but rather playful or agitated. The other day I was working in their enclosure (a part they were not in) and the whole time Jelly sat along the fence and chuffled.

As you can see, Jelly loves attention. Not all of the tigers at Carolina Tiger are this friendly, and when interacting with wild cats one must never let his or her guard down. Please note that these are not the kind of cat you bring home and play with.

Nitro is the blind tiger at Carolina Tiger Rescue. The sand on the perimeter of his enclosure helps him identify where he is in relation to the fence. He can count his steps and navigates the enclosure very well. His enclosure buddy, Apache, is very protective of him and the two are very friendly. Last week we sprayed the perimter of the enclosure with vanilla and the den boxes, water areas, and shift doors with peppermint to help Nitro use his senses to navigate. Nitro decided recently that he absolutely loves me and jumped on the fence and attempted to scent mark me. The boys are being moved to a new enclosure soon and volunteers have been working to get everything just right. Gererous donations have also allowed the purchase of materials such as sand to make paths throughout the enclosure for Nitro. I am appreciate to each of the volunteers and donors who give to Carolina Tiger Rescue. It gives me hope for the future and protection of exotic cats and I am excited to build a career where I can work with people like the family at Carolina Tiger Rescue.

I'm never sure who is Becky and who is Coda when it comes to the bints in this enclosure (that is, if I am looking at their faces). One of them charges me constantly and yowls and growls, but here either Becky or Coda was being friendly because I had bananas with me. I have to admit that since becoming an intern I have started to eat more fruit. Any career that promotes personal health must be a good choice!

I think I've made a good choice.