Steve Lopata and an assistant are bringing two tiger cubs from the Little Rock,
AR Safaripark tiger breeding operation. If the Safaripark supervisor comes
along, we may also have an adult tiger (with a small possibility of a lion cub,
as well), plus their van with photographic and T-shirt production equipment.
Come pet the tigers, have your picture taken with them, and maybe have a T-shirt made with your "tiger picture" on it.
Tigers are suffering the double pressure of loss of habitat and basically unrestricted poaching. A tiger skin alone is worth more than the average farmer in the areas they roam makes over his whole life. The requirement of traditional Chinese medicine makes the whole tiger worth more dead than alive.
Safaripark used to be heavily involved in community presentations. The park was open to the public, docent led tours were given on weekends, and the cats were brought to many schools in outreach programs.
Unfortunately, there are a couple of things that preclude the continuation of these programs. Safaripark is in the process of moving from their present location to one with about three times the space for the cats, plus other advantages. Second, their insurance company became nervous about the visitors so the park was temporarily closed.
When they have completed their move, Safaripark hopes to continue to make outreach visits, but this has not been determined at this time.
Last update: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 by Rich Zellich