June 1 2017

Big Cat Updates

At her recent vet visit, 22 year old Tiger Lilly weighed in at 22 lbs.

Andy Tiger has healed up from his neutering and has been released from the roofed section of his enclosure to the the lake access section.  You can go to Explore.org/TigerLake to watch Andy enjoy the lake.

Find links to all the cat cams at BigCatCams.com

Baby Cakes the African genet has been reported as lethargic on and off. Genets usually live to be 8-13. He was found wandering in a neighborhood, as an adult, 17 years ago and came here. We guess him to be 22 based on the age we thought him to be on arrival.  The vet drew blood to check him for a known issue in genets that causes their blood sugar to be unstable.  Being inside we can control the temperature and keep a better eye on him until we know better what we are dealing with.  If you think there isn't much known about taking care of tigers, you should try and find anything useful on African genets.

Ginger Serval went back to her previous enclosure next to Frosty Serval this morning.  The cage she vacated is about 3 or 4 cages hooked together so perhaps close to 4,000 SF which is being prepped for the arrival of Chaos and Cyrus the Caracals we are bringing in soon.

Zucari the Serval will get Nirvana Ocelot's empty triplex by the Kitten Cabana, so you may be able to sneak some peeks at him via the Kitten Cabana webcam when he arrives.

If you want to help with the rescue expenses and the care of Chaos, Cyrus, & Zucari please go to BigCatRescue.org/donate No amount is too small because it all adds up to make a big difference.

HAPPY NEWS!!!!

Bobcat rehab camera just went live at http://explore.org/live-cams/player/big-cat-rescue-bobcat-rehab-and-release

Start grabbing those snapshots and short video clips of Nova, the Rehab Bobcat.

Learn about our Bobcat Rehab & Release program at:  BigCatRescue.org/bobcat-rehab/

Meet Nova, the bobcat now in the new rehab center. She will soon be ready to return to the wild where she belongs.

BigCatRescue.biz

The profit from the sales of these new items will be donated to the Corbett Foundation. These funds will be used to construct fences around open wells in India to protect tigers, leopards, and other wild animals from falling to their deaths or drowning.  Learn more about how serious a problem this is and how constructing these fences around open wells is saving the lives of wild tigers & leopards.

Learn more about this important project at: http://bigcatrescue.org/international-tiger-day/

To see all the International Tiger Day Gear go to Tigers911.com

If we really want to save the species in the wild we need to get active now all supporting and purr-ticipating in projects that are actually making a difference in the wild and this project is doing just that.  If you cannot purr-chase International Tiger Day Gear, then perhaps you could help promote this project by copy/pasting the text above and the graphic, too.

Question To Viewers:  If we provided a couple tiger picture/graphics and a paragraph of text you could use to help promote this project, would YOU be interested in helping save tigers and leopards in the wild by uploading/posting it once a week on your own social media pages between now and International Tiger Day in July?  Let us know in the comments below or message us, or email lawanna.mitchell@bigcatrescue.org

Note To Viewers:  If YOU have already PURR-chased any of  International Tiger Day Gear above, PLEASE send LaWanna photos of you modeling or showing off your gear.

SAVE Award May 2017

For outstanding volunteer service, the May 2017 SAVE Award goes to Brittany Mira! Brittany is truly passionate about the cats and providing excellent care. She is always willing to stay in the afternoons to help with projects and is a great team player.

A donation of $1000 has been made in your honor to the Wildlife SOS India to save leopards.

The areas surrounding Maharashtra India, consisting of scrub jungle abundant with small prey, have provided ideal habitat to leopards. However this habitat has began being destroyed by development, and what was once a leopard haven, has now drastically changed since the Government began to provide financial incentives to encourage sugar cane cultivation in these areas.

Rapid deforestation was the consequence of creating sugar cane fields, leaving the leopards with little option but to adapt to the changing landscape. With a shrinking forested habitat remaining for foraging, hiding and to live in, the leopards were forced to move to into the sugar cane fields. Female leopards have begun to give birth in the tall sugar cane crops. The height of the plants provides the most suitable cover for a mother to conceal and protect her cubs from predators. Sadly, cub season coincides with the sugar cane harvesting season and protective mother leopards will attack if people come near their young. Naturally this causes public anxiety and a tense man-animal conflict situation. Worried villagers call for the Forest Department to trap and remove the leopards even if no dangerous incidents have occurred. Historically, some of these captured Leopards were released back into the wild and others, particularly those with a history of attacking people, were left in solitary confinement mostly in cages the size of small dining tables, for the rest of their lives. Public resistance to re-release, put pressure on government offices with few resources, to explore more humane options for the cats.

In 2007, Wildlife SOS partnered with the government to expand an already existing Leopard Rescue Center to address the emotional and logistical needs of India’s Leopards. The Manekdoh Leopard Rescue Center run by Wildlife SOS in collaboration with the Maharashtra Forest Department houses 31 leopards and provides a transit home for leopards injured by villagers or trapped in conflict situations. The center also houses several orphaned leopard cubs who cannot be released back into the wild as they are severely imprinted.

Wildlife SOS also reaches out to local communities to increase understanding about Leopards. The goal is to help people co-exist with leopards by increasing tolerance, and diminishing fears that have manifested due to ignorance and misconceptions about the cats.

Wildlife SOS has vets that have been conducting awareness sessions in schools, colleges, forums for environment awareness with the objective of educating people about leopards and their behaviour leading to better understanding and tolerance and reducing incidence of conflict situations

More Info: http://wildlifesos.org

Note To Viewers:  MANY of the photos we post on Social pages, like Facebook etc were taken by Brittany!

 Big Cat Facts

The dark lines above the eyes tend to be symmetrical, but the marks on the sides of the face and body can be different.  These two photo are Gabrielle and were taken just moments apart but shows you how the stripes on her face are different on each side.

BigCatTV.com

A VERY SHORT Oldie but Goodie (August 2011)

"CAMBU" !! Cameron the male African Lion and Zabu the female white tiger love each other very much and love "playtime" where they can be very goofy big cats!

Note To Viewers:  Ignore the Text Tigers ad at the end; it has expired.

Keeper Corner

Keeper Brittany Mira:  Checked in on Tiger Lilly today. She looked like a wide eyed kitten with her fresh grooming and trimmed ruff ?lol she seemed to really enjoy laying in the new soft soil under her platform instead of just hiding in her den.

Super special memory made today with princess Tiger Lilly. She had developed some pretty intense mats down her spine but luckily, overall she looked really great for a 22 year old bobcat. Such a relief! I made her promise she wouldn't be mad at me after this... we shall see ?fingers crossed?

More photos of Tiger Lilly's vet visit and getting the hair mats removed while there.  When cats get as old as Tiger Lilly i they have a really hard time reaching all the places youngers cats keep well groomed.

Jamie Veronica on 4/21/2017:  My sweet boy Pharaoh turns 18 tomorrow. A big thank you to Carole Baskin for helping makeover his enclosure and to Justin Boorstein for helping set up his new hammock bed and a splash pool just in time for his pool party!

Jamie Veronica 4/21/2017:  King Tut getting ready for a nap in one of his favorite sunny spots.

Jamie Veronica 4/21/2017:  Zabu took no time at all to level her Earth Day enrichment.

Jamie Veronica 4/17/2017:  These Two.....

Question To Viewers:  Are you okay with getting past photos like the four above from April?

 Foster Kitten Program

Thursdays are project days at Big Cat Rescue but the kittens just think it's playday every day. http://explore.org/live-cams/player/big-cat-rescue-kitten-cabana

Viewer videos of the kittens in the Kitten Cabana.

CatRescue.biz

Does YOUR FAMILY do much grilling in the summer?

Check out the "King of Beasts Medium Length Apron."

 Viewer Videos From Explore.org/bigcatrescue

Did YOU LIKE the videos above? Here is a list of YouTube channels where these videos clips came from. Check the out, and be sure to let these viewers know you are enjoying their videos.

• Jamie Veronica:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsY6X3rUv8UlIUbrxNeu-Aw
• 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
• Janie M https://www.youtube.com/user/donutgirl100
• Jaime T: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsY_oF0NhXc5OS8CcTaUi2A/videos

Cole & Marmalade's Corner

Viewer Pix

Viewer Christine:  Note the kind of thing usually posted in this section, but hope it is okay with all of you, just this once.  A viewer sent posted this funny video link in response to Seth's Letter To Management requesting a Hammock.    I thought it was cute, so am sharing it with you.

  WANTED – Graphic Artists

Carole is looking for a graphic artist who really gets what we are all about and would would like to help us with some graphics for shirts.  If that is you or if you know someone like that, please have them email Carole at cat@bigcatrescue.org

 Quick Links

As per viewer suggestions, Quick Links now has it’s very own page http://bigcatrescue.org/quick-links/

Bookmarking it will help you find things quickly.  That will come in handy for:

• Helping us answer questions on social media
• Finding answers to some of Carole’s Facebook Live questions