Feb 10 2017

Big Cat Updates

We are waiting on Priya to go through the tunnels for her turn in the Vacation Rotation enclosure.

 Projects

Scott and Josh are working today on bringing a power outlet to the east side of the huge Tiger Lake enclosure so YOU can watch when Seth, or Hoover, or whoever, is down by Food Prep.   That is the end of that enclosure opposite the lake, the area past the little forest area of that enclosure.  Running electric etc to set up more cams is an expense.  You can donate to help with sanctuary expenses like this at bigcatrescue.org/donate

 Heads Up!

Attention all Kitten Cabana viewers: At 2:00 PM eastern time, Chelsea took Monty the Rat into the Cabana for some run around time! Be sure check the Facebook Live Video replays below if you want to get a look at the boy.

Note To Viewers:  If you captured photos or video, please email me at lawanna.mitchell@bigcatrescue.org so we can share them on here.

 Facebook Live Video Replays

VIDEO:  Chelsea & Monty the Rat

VIDEO:  Moving Priya Continued

VIDEO:  Moving Priya to Her First Vacation

We attempted to Move Priya to Vacation but she turned around and went back home.  So we will wait  a little while and try again.

VIDEO:  2/10/2017

Please review us: http://bigcatrescue.org/review-big-cat-rescue-to-help-us-save-more-big-cats/

 Facebook Live Contest

Each day that Carole does a Facebook Live video she asks a question and someone who answers it correctly wins a prize. So, go to Facebook and Like our Facebook Page and choose to get notifications of our live videos. Then participate in the contests, join in conversations in the comments area, too. Be sure to book mark BigCatRescue.org/win which is where you will post your answer to qualify for a future prize if you are the first one to get the correct answer.

2/10/2017 Contest

Question:  Where was Priya rescued from?

Winner:  Priti Kujur

Answer:  Priya was rescued from Serenity Springs. Learn more at http://bigcatrescue.org/priya/

Winner’s Chosen Prize:  Mug – Tigers

Tigers of Big Cat Rescue 11 or 15 oz. mug features a photo collage of 13 of Big Cat Rescue’s tiger residents including; Zeus, Andy, Keisha, Kali, Hoover, Gabrielle, Seth, TJ, Zabu, Andre, Arthur, Amanda, and Priya.

This sturdy white, glossy ceramic mug is an essential to your cupboard. This brawny version of ceramic mugs shows it’s true colors with quality assurance to withstand heat in the microwave and put it through the dishwasher as many times as you like, the quality will not be altered. Dishwasher and microwave safe.

 People Often Ask

Does Big Cat Rescue support any wild conservation projects?  Yes, we do.

Each month all the keepers vote and one keeper wins what we call the SAVE Award.  That keeper gets to pick a conservation project that is making a real difference in saving wild cats in the wild and $1,000 is donated to that conservation group in the volunteer’s name.  PLEASE NOTE:  That $1,000 does NOT come out of your donations for the cats here.  That comes out of tour fees or other sanctuary income, but not from your donations for these cats.

SAVE Award stands for “Scratch’s Award for Volunteer Excellence”  Scratch is a cougar that lived here a years past and lived to be very very old.  He was well-loved and this award honors his memory.

January’s SAVE Award: For outstanding volunteer service, the January SAVE Award goes to Candy C! She has taken on special duties in the Gift shop and is ALWAYS eager to help. She asks a lot of questions, but only because she has a keen appetite for learning and wants to know how to do things right. She has a positive attitude and an eagerness for new experiences. Candy has been an excellent addition to our volunteer family.

A donation of $1000 has been made in Candy C’s honor to African Parks for the protection of lions, leopards, and cheetah.

Above photos show rangers collaring a lion and a cheetah.

African Parks focuses on effective law enforcement measures, conflict mitigation schemes, and community engagement in order to protect Threatened species such as lions, leopards and cheetah, along with providing them with the habitat and security of core areas the animals need in order to breed and thrive.

They undertake wildlife monitoring, monitoring individual animals, through collaring or fitting tracking devices, to gather critical information on ecology and behavior, survivorship or mortality, and advance knowledge on the ecosystem as a whole, as well as how to better manage the wildlife within them. Through monitoring efforts, they can establish the ways in which they focus resources.

Research is a vital part of monitoring the health of the ecosystem and also an important way to track the management progress of the park. Regular censuses provide essential information on wildlife trends, which even with the best monitoring can take several years to determine, but ultimately dictate whether interventions are working.

Finally African Parks has the largest counter-poaching force in Africa with over 600 rangers on staff. Proper and frequent training is given to the rangers to to create an able and well-disciplined team who on foot, horseback, boats, vehicles and aerial, conduct year round patrols providing security for the wildlife against poachers and other illegal activities.

Read more at: https://www.african-parks.org

 The STARS Award

The STARS Award is another Keeper Recognition Reward.  Remember the keepers are not paid they are volunteers who give of their time because they love these cats and believe in our mission to end the abuse and exploitation of big cats and their babies.

STARS Prize:  Each month volunteers who dedicate 25% over their minimum hourly requirements are put into a pool from which one partner and one keeper is randomly selected to win a prize.  The prizes for this year will be a paw painting from one of the cats.  We will be making all of these paw paintings in big batches.  So while you will not get to choose the cat who paints your paw painting, you will get to choose from the collection of completed paintings.

Please Note:  We do not sell these originals as they are special gifts for the keepers who give of their time for the cats.  However, you can get reproductions of the paw print paintings in our online gift shop at bigcatrescue.biz

• December Keeper – Barbara F
• December Partner – Jennie J

 Keeper Recognition

If YOU would like to send a virtual hug or thank you to the volunteer keepers and interns you are welcome to purr-chase coffee, tea, or snacks for them at Smile.Amazon.com and Amazon will ship your gift for the keepers and interns directly to Big Cat Rescue, 12802 Easy Street, Tampa Florida  33625  When your gift arrives we will put it in the new Keeper Cafe’ for them to enjoy free of charge.

 Letter To Management

Dear Sir/Madam:

Further to our letter to you on 2/7/17 regarding the grievances brought to our attention about your new resident Nova a/k/a The Destroyer.

We have received additional complaints to wit:

– Substantial weight gain has been reported because fitness programs are being disregarded and replaced with time spent watching this bobcat.

– Eye strain issues have surfaced; i.e. blurred vision, headache, and occasional double vision from staring at computer screens for prolonged periods.

– Back issues are occurring from viewers sitting in one place for so long.

Despite our letter to you outlining all the previous issues involving Nova, you ignored our complaints and instead put in a SECOND camera!

This is unacceptable, and will undoubtedly require even more research on our part. Therefore, we have increased the time our office will be closed from one month to approximately 6 weeks.

Thank you for your attention.

Sincerely,

Iwanta Kisserbelly, Partner
Catz, Kats, Morekatz and a Rat

 Twitter

Big Cat Rescue is getting close to 200,000 followers on Twitter.  Can you help us get there?

@BigCatRescue

 Viewer Videos From Explore.org/bigcatrescue

There are some GREAT videos recorded by viewers at explore.org/bigcatrescue that you will really enjoy watching.  Here are some sample videos.

VIDEO: Nikita showing off her ball skills to the vultures

Here is a list of YouTube channels that feature videos of the cats here:

• Susann  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUFOZiTvzKRvj-oVbzdByvg
• Ruxandra https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvCsjKptd1gM9BhfDkGQGNg
• Donna P:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcFbhMc8Sqr-8MreWuYr4Bg
• Shawna https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfl9S-vDPJIgjl8QpM6Aypw
• Cathy S https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6ynHBFLKj0BVnK5jo2gTnw
• A Heart For Nikita https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSxAXUTh29XWQw35acpU1Ag

 Cole & Marmalade’s Corner

Real men love cats! Marmalade showed me some love but Cole wasn’t very interested in any human kisses today! … Happy Valentine’s Day to all the crazy cat people out there! 🙂 xo~Chris

 Last Minute Valentine’s Day Gifts

Have you ran out of time to order a Valentine Gift for that special someone?  Our online gift shop has some fun gifts you can buy and download to print.   Are you far away from that someone special?  Our online gift shop has some fun gifts that can be sent via email, too.

Check them out!

Downloadable Gifts such as big cats sponsorship kits are always fun gifts to give or to receive.  http://big-cat-rescue.myshopify.com/collections/downloadable-sponsor-a-cat