In 2022, TCWR…
Rescued cats.
In May, we rehomed a female African serval named Lexi. She was declawed and had only been fed cat food by her previous owners. She’s proven to be a very brave serval and spends most of her time in her habitat.
In June, we rescued an unnamed female African lion from an abandoned facility in Oklahoma. She was in poor condition but quickly proved calm and friendly. She was given the name Lady, very fitting for her natural beauty.
In September, we rehomed a female bobcat named Santana. She was someone’s pet over in west Kansas. Sadly, she was declawed on her front 2 paws and was overweight. She is still a bit shy and enjoys her time in her night house building.
Lost loved ones.
Willy – African Lion, 20 yo, male (March)
Heather – Orange tiger, 22 yo, female (April)
Daniel – African Lion, 18 yo, male (May)
Avalanche – Orange tiger, 16 yo, male (June)
Remington – White tiger, 6 yo, male (July)
Mani – Liger, 14 yo, female (September)
Whitney – Orange tiger, 21 yo, female (October)
Hurricane – Orange tiger, 17 yo, male (December)
Bobby – Bobcat, 23 yo male (December)
Built in-ground pools.
In part of our ongoing efforts to give our cats the best lives they can have, we’ve been in the process of building in-ground pools. We have 21 pools funded for out of the 58 existing habitats. 4 out of the 9 pools we have already built were also built this year, and Aurora and Lakota were lucky to receive one of these new pools this spring. These two cats loved their pool over the summer, soaking in it, drowning their toys, or splashing around together.
Celebrated important milestones!
This year, TCWR turned 30! As part of that celebration, and to honor the dedication and hard work of TCWR employees, the Eureka Springs mayor named May 1st, Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge Day. We held a big celebration, bringing together many important people in TCWR’s history.
We also celebrated the 10th anniversary of our Mountainburg rescue, and the building of Rescue Ridge, our animal retirement home. Now, we don’t house any Mountainburg cats anymore, but their memories live on.
Speaking of Rescue Ridge, Ty the tiger, who resides there, turned 24, making him TCWR’s current oldest animal.
Another big celebration, cubs DOJ, Jinx, and Rosie turned 1 years old! They were born in May of 2021 after their mother Priscilla was rescued as part of a Department of Justice case. All three cubs were born club footed, and had to go through intense physical therapy quite quickly in hopes they would be able to spend the rest of their lives running, playing, and stalking like normal tigers. TCWR is happy to be able to give them a safe forever home as they continue to grow and mature into adult tigers.
Big Cat Public Safety Act
This act has been a whirlwind of emotion! We were able to get the act passed from the House and into the Senate on July 29th. On December 6th, the act got passed from the Senate to the President of the United States! On December 20th, 2022 we got the most exciting news of the year, the President signed the act into a law!!! This now means that it is federally illegal to own a big cat like a lion, tiger, jaguar, leopard, cougar, cheetah, and any hybrid of these animals as pets. It also makes cub petting and pay to play programs with those said animals also illegal! This is a big win for True Sanctuaries and the Big Cat Sanctuary Alliance! Thank you to all who helped get this act passed!