Monday, December 5, 2011

Serenity Springs....a Refuge for Large Cats

Picture copyright of Serenity Springs Wildlife Center and borrowed from their Facebook page.
Adopting a pet is something that I always encourage, but not if it is an exotic animal. Animals such as primates, wolves, and large cats do not belong in a private home. There are incidents throughout the year where the basic instincts come to the surface and these animals attack humans, which is one piece of the heated argument against the capture and private owning of exotic animals. That's a topic to be explored on a different day however. Until this stops, thankfully we have organizations like Serenity Springs Wildlife Center that are dedicated to the animals that they rescue from harmful situations and provide them with a safe and permanent home. Part of their mission statement sums up what they do better than I could: "Through introduction to, and education about these magnificent creatures, we promote compassion and respect for all animals while fostering recovery for endangered species."
I visited Serenity Springs last year and had the opportunity to tour the facility in a group. There are well over 100 animals, not just large cats, that call Serenity Springs their home. It was amazing to hear the back story for each cat, some sad, some simply retiring from show-biz, and see how well taken care of they are now. One of the retired cats is Savannah from the movie Second Hand Lions:
Picture copyright of Serenity Springs Wildlife Center and borrowed from their website.
Cats like Savannah are common residents at Serenity Springs. If an exotic animal has been raised by humans, they usually cannot be re-released into the wild since they won't be able to adapt.  Shelters run by caring individuals become their home for the rest of their lives. It's actually very rare to find facilities such as this one, as the cost to keep an animal for so long is thousands of dollars each month. Various numbers show that there are actually more tigers in captivity than there are in the wild today, so zoological parks like Serenity Springs need plenty of funding to help as many of these animals as possible. Thankfully they have a committed set of volunteers and donors who keep the facility up and running.
Sometimes regular donations just aren't enough. I received a plea in October for extra donations to help out Snow Magic receive a much needed surgery. Snow Magic is one of only seventeen white snow tigers left in the world. He was retired from a Vegas magic show, and due to a spinal aneurysm needed to have one of his legs amputated in order to survive. Not only did Serenity Springs need the cost for the surgery, but also the various medications, treatments, and the building materials and labor for a recovery room as well. This totals over $25,000 and amazingly they reached their goal and was able to prolong Snow Magic's life with the amputation!  You can watch his recovery on Facebook, and see previous pictures of the recovery enclosure being built - or you can read more about the procedure in local Colorado Springs newspaper, The Gazette.
Picture copyright of Serenity Springs Wildlife Center and borrowed from their website.
I encourage you to explore Serenity Springs and find out all the different ways you can help these cats. Start by 'friending' them on Facebook and signing up for their e-mail newsletter. That way when another emergency comes up like Snow Magic's surgery, you will be able to help out! You are also able to donate money or supplies (such as hardware and tools), volunteer your time, run a fundraiser, or even 'adopt' your own tiger that you sponsor each month! No matter what talents you may have, Serenity Springs will probably be able to use you, even down to grant writing and bookkeeping! They have to turn down more animals than they can take in, and always have plans to expand and create better environments for their residents - so check them out and help out in any way that you can!
Logo copyright of Serenity Springs Wildlife Center and borrowed from their Facebook page.