Mama Shakira, or Shakira II, is by far one of the most recognizable cats at Turpentine Creek. Referred to as a pure white tiger, you’ll notice she is not, in fact, pure white. She has faint stripes all over her body. Mama is as pure white as any leucistic (white) tiger can be. Due to that, people heavily exploited her before turpentine brought her to this sanctuary. As we retell her story, we never intend to upset or sadden anyone. Our intention is to give the animals a voice, and tell you where they came from. While it might be sad, Mama Shakira’s story is one that needs to be read, and just might leave you feeling hopeful.
Early Life
It’s important to know how much of the beginning of Mama’s story is guess work. We don’t know many details about her early life. This is due to there not being enough regulation for big cats when she was born. But we can guess that, when Shakira was born, she was immediately taken from her mother. At that point she was probably hand raised until she could go into the cub petting industry. It was there that people would pay to play with and pet a pure white tiger. Chances are high that they even paid extra for her coat color. The facility owners exploited her for hands-on interactions as long as possible.
This process is devastating for a developing cub. It can lead to something known as metabolic bone disease, which is a life altering illness. Luckily, she did not obtain severe metabolic bone disease, from what we could tell, but she did not escape cub petting without lifelong ailments. And, unfortunately, when she outgrew this industry, she moved into an equally horrible one.
As she grew too large and dangerous for public handling, the facility owners sold her to a magician in Las Vegas. This sale is documented, though her exact age at the time remains unknown. At some point, someone declawed her, and we speculate that it was the magician. She was declawed so people would feel safer working with her. However, declawing big cats does not make them any safer. In Las Vegas, she performed in magic shows inside noisy, smoky casinos and spent her time between shows crammed into a small transport cage. In this environment, she worked constantly and lived in confinement when not performing.
This was her life for a few years, as she continued to reach maturity. She fully matured around three years old. At that point, someone either sold her back to or sold her for the first time to the Colorado cub petting facility.
Colorado
This Colorado facility bought Shakira with the sole purpose of breeding her to create more cubs for their pay to play franchise. The facility introduced her to a male white tiger named Bosco and had them breed as many times as possible. They participated in speed breeding with Mama Shakira, having her get pregnant, give birth, and then they’d take her cubs immediately. This made her believe they passed away, resulting in a very natural reaction where she went back into heat to try again. The facility exploited this, though. Taking her cubs immediately after each birth, Mama Shakira ended up having four litters in two years. That’s more than any animal can handle, and this process squashed any motherly instincts she might’ve developed.
When the TCWR team arrived for her rescue and saw she gave birth to one last litter, two female white tigers, we swiftly removed them. Every litter before them had died in her mind, so we worried for the safety of these two, as she had already rejected them. Luckily, though, her other litters had not passed. We rescued all four of her litters along with her and her mate, Bosco.
Now Mama Shakira can live the rest of her life in peace at a sanctuary where nobody will touch her, or force her to do anything, and the only thing we ask is that she remains as healthy and happy as she can for as long as she can. She truly has an inspiring story of heartbreak and hope, that touches visitors of the refuge every day. And we are pleased to mention, that nothing like this can easily happen again. Thanks to The Big Cat Public Safety Act, exploitation like what Mama, her cubs, and Bosco went through is federally illegal. Visitors of the refuge and readers like you help make changes like this possible.
*Published by Laynie Rodzon on 10/12/2024*