We decided to explore a bit of Arkansas today by heading into the Ozarks to see the big cat sanctuary in Eureka Springs. All of the animals were rescued from one tragic situation or another. It is a wonderful place and they are working hard to make sure these animals have a good forever home. After leaving Eureka Springs we traveled up to Branson MO. I have meet several people who vacation there and wanted to see it. It is a bit like Gatlinburg. We drove onto Poplar Bluff to stay the evening. Tomorrow we will head for Kentucky.
When we got to the Rescue park they had a grizzly bear that was having the greatest time in his pool. He had a stick he played with for a long time the just started doing his water aerobics. All the animals were rescues given a second chance. They looked to be well taken care of and as they get more donations they will build larger spaces for the animals so they can all have daily grass time. At this point they have to take turns having access to the green space.
A yawning and sleeping tigers.
The stare.
We seemed to have visited during the wrong time of the day as most of the cats were being lazy or sleeping, like this bobcat.
They even had a rare white tiger.
When man steps in and changes nature for profit you can end up with the animal like the one below. It is a cross between a male lion and female tiger (it’s called a liger). They are missing a hormone that stops their growth over time so they continue to grow throughout their lives. They said the largest one is over 900 pounds. Tigers are normally slightly larger than lions and they tend to top out at about 650 pounds so the crossbreeds tend to have bone and joint issues as they get older.
The jail bird really wasn’t one of the rescue animals he just stopped by for something to eat.
They also had some female cougars. All had been declawed which causes them to walk on their feet when they normally walk on their toes. They also have joint issues because of this.
Since the park is in the mountains they do have occasional visits by outside critters. Today a snake happened to be crossing on of the tiger areas and it caught the attention of this tiger. He seemed to be having a good time playing with the snake – not so sure the snake was having a good time.
finally retired! 