January 4 2018

Big Cat Updates

SUMMARY: Action Alert for New Jersey residents.  Fire hose hammock arrives! Babycakes loves being inside.  Inventory update.  Email & Song sent to Carole. Priya's pumpkin, & more.

Keeper Afton's Coordinator Report for Wednesday, January 3, 3018

Cold and rainy!!! But everyone ate pretty good today.

We wrapped up the holiday tours for this season.

Food prep was done before lunch.

Interns and Michael got operant sign offs.

A group of interns stayed in the gift shop this afternoon that were not on tours as Honey asked for some extra help with the inventory tasks.

Babycakes LOVES the indoors. He only wanted thighs today. He ate overnight and some this morning, so I left some food in there tonight that he has already eaten out of. I put the oz on his chart, so please weigh and update what he ate.

Note from Howard:  Thanks to inventory counters last night!  I just want to thank so much the people who came out last night to count inventory. We have NEVER gotten this far on the Wednesday before inventory day and it is a HUGE help! So thanks to the following people and if I missed anyone please let me know: Aleesa, Annabelle, Becky, Candy, Chelsea, Danielle, Diana, Gale, Holly, Honey, Jan, Melinda, Mohan, Stephanie C, and thanks to Chelsea for arranging the excellent and healthy food!

Take advantage of this snow day to make history for wild and exotic animals in New Jersey!

In the coming days, the New Jersey state legislature will be voting on a historic bill to prohibit the use of elephants and other wild or exotic animals, such as lions and tigers, in traveling animal acts.

Nosey's law was originally written to only prohibit elephants in traveling acts. But just before the holidays, it was amended to include other wild and exotic animals! Nosey's Law would put an end to big cats jumping through rings of fire, leaping between pedestals, and performing other unnatural acts for entertainment. It would also be the beginning of a nation-wide movement to codify what society has already concluded - wild animals do not belong in the circus!

We heard you're having a snow day in New Jersey. The state assembly was set to vote on Nosey's Law today but has had to postpone until after the storm. You have the purrfect window of opportunity to make history happen for big cats! Please make a quick call to your Assemblymember and Senator ASAP and urge them to vote yes to Nosey's Law A4386/S2508, as amended, to prohibit all traveling wild animal acts when it comes up for a vote in the coming days.

Find your state legislators' contact details here: http://bit.ly/2zjm6Gx

Stay warm and safe big cat friends. Thank you for being a voice for the cats!

Facebook Live Video Replays

Once a year we have our major inventory count where many of our volunteers come in to make sure we count everything to compare against our inventory sheets. It's usually a lot of fun, any time Big Cat Rescuers are together. Scroll around the room to see who is here.

Tigers Get a Firehose Hammock:  Joyce & her husband, Tim, had a custom built fire hose hammock built for the cats. It is going into the Vacation Rotation enclosure. Kali will be the first one to test it out. Kali also gets three Christmas trees.

Kali Tiger getting a hammock Part 1

Kali getting a hammock and trees from Big Cat Rescue on Vimeo.

Kali getting fire hose hammock Part 2

Kali vs hammock part 2 from Big Cat Rescue on Vimeo.

See the whole video here:

BCR Inventory Day

Walkabout

Kali Tiger's Stinky Face

BigCatTV.com

A Tiger's First Pumpkin

Some of you have asked that we again post some past YouTube videos..  This on was Published on Oct 24, 2017. Priya the tiger got her very first pumpkin. Watch how much fun she had playing with it and destroying it!!

Keeper Corner & General Photos

Keeper Michael Heap: It's a good day when the boss brings in hot chocolate and marshmallows :) Thanks Kathryn!

Keeper Michael Heap: Maya Cougar :-)

Keeper Sarah Copel: Mac the cougar got a fish 'sicle. He loves crunching them into tiny bits. He says thank you!!

Hope you had a Very MERRY CHRISTMAS

Cameron + Zabu = CamBu

Best Friends, always!

Andre Tiger LOVED his Christmas Tree and Presents SO much he DOVE in HEAD FIRST!

Have a ROARING Happy Day,
Kali Tiger

All in a line, tiger siblings Arthur, Andre, & Amanda
Photo by Keeper Tory Wright

A Special Song

A recent email Carole received:

Hi Carole,

It's been almost three months since I came to visit Big Cat Rescue, so I'm very tardy in sending you my thank you....guess I got caught up in the seasonal festivities!

But not a day has gone by that I don't think about my keeper tour on October 13 and not a day has passed that I haven't checked in on "my" cats. The love, care and passion from everyone involved with Big Cat Rescue is amazing. If I lived closer, I would definitely hope to be involved in some way.

I live about an hour north of Toronto, Ontario, Canada - pretty cold up here right now and expected to get colder over the next few days (forecast -25C tomorrow night, that's about -13 Fahrenheit!). Unfortunately, living in Canada I'm unable to make the Call of the Wild, but I have vocalized to many the plight of big cats and have had many positive reactions as the unknown is now becoming known. I wish there was more I could do...

I've attached a YouTube link for you. Oddly, the day after I had my keeper tour and was back home, I had some friends visit as they were going to see Roger Hodgson perform nearby to where I live. He's a former member of the band "Supertramp" which was one of my favourite bands growing up. They told me about this song he sang, which is absolutely haunting, but beautiful, and related so closely to my experience at Big Cat Rescue. The song is called "Death and a Zoo". Maybe you've already heard it, but if not, please take a moment to listen to it. I think you'll like it!

Thank you again, Carole, for allowing me the opportunity to visit your wonderful sanctuary. One day, like you've said, I hope it will no longer be needed and all big cats will live free!

Dawne

About the song: Published on Sep 30, 2015 - Roger Hodgson co-founded Supertramp in 1969 and was the driving force behind what fans call the 14 golden years of the band. He wrote, sang, and arranged the enduring rock standards that made Supertramp a worldwide phenomenon with album sales in excess of 60 million. Roger gave us timeless classics such as "Give a Little Bit," "Breakfast in America,” “Dreamer," "The Logical Song," "Take the Long Way Home," "It's Raining Again," "Fool's Overture,” “School,” and many more.

"If you were a wild animal and you were captured, would you prefer death or life in a zoo?" ~ Roger Hodgson

This mesmerizing song, "Death and a Zoo," is one of many acclaimed songs from Roger’s Open the Door album which was released in Europe in 2000 where it went to the top of the charts before being released in North America. Roger often performs this audience favorite in concert, in addition to other songs from the album such as Along Came Mary, The More I Look, and Love is a Thousand Times.

News & Articles

ONE: New Jersey Bids Not-So-Fond Farewell to the Big Top and would put an end to all traveling acts using all kinds of wild animals. Cub handling for pictures is one of the most egregious forms of exotic animal abuse, and traveling acts that use cubs would be curtailed by passage of this bill. READ ARTICLE

TWO:  Man filmed casually pushing a lion into back of a car - but it tries to escape READ ARTICLE

THREE: Pittsburgh mayor signs controversial law outlawing use of certain instruments on wild, exotic animals READ ARTICLE

FOUR: VIDEO: The truth about captive lions and their welfare | Kempton Express READ ARTICLE

Have YOU made the Call of the Wild this week?

It is very easy to do at BigCatAct.com