BY PHILLIP PINA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
TO HELP
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To help the Bengal tigers, contact the Texas Exotic Feline Foundation, by mail at Box 637, Boyd, Texas 76023, or by telephone at (940) 433-5091. |
Four abandoned Bengal tigers are heading to a new Texas home today as calls pour in to help cover the costs of building the endangered animals a new habitat.
The tigers, once part of a now-defunct Spanish circus, were rescued from a ship near Brownsville, Texas. The shippers had planned to sell the 400-pound cats, Texas authorities said.
The tigers, brought ashore last month, were in poor health and confined to an 8-by-16-foot trailer. The Texas Exotic Feline Foundation (TEFF), which runs a sanctuary for big cats near Fort Worth, sent a crew to retrieve the tigers Monday. They were expected to return tonightwith the animals.
TEFF has received more than $20,000 in donations to create a home for the tigers this past week. "Dozens and dozens" of Tristate residents have called wanting to help since The Cincinnati Enquirer ran a story about the cats' plight Wednesday, said TEFF Director Richard Gilbreth.
The Cincinnati area has long been an admirer of the fierce hunter and largest member of the cat family.
Since the 1970s, nearly 100 Bengal tigers have been born at the Cincinnati Zoo, said General Curator Mike Dulaney. Most of them have been rare white Bengal tigers.
TEFF operators had hoped to raise $100,000 to build the four Texas Bengal tigers a new habitat before getting them. But the deadly heat wave in Texas, along with concerns about the animals' health, prompted the group to act quickly.
"It's just getting too risky to wait," said TEFF board Chairman Don Feare. The animals will be held in a much larger temporary enclosure and will be available to veterinarians.
TEFF is a non-profit group that has taken in abandoned, abused and confiscated cats since 1988. Its sanctuary houses 65 exotic cats, including lions, tigers and jaguars.
"It's one of the best sanctuaries going," said Rich Buickerood, director of the Dallas Zoo. The animals are well cared for, they are given plenty of room and the sanctuary offers a veterinary clinic, he said.
Until a larger habitat is built, the tigers will be kept together in a 1,000-square-foot enclosure. It features a cool-mist system and shade trees, TEFF leaders said.
Along with the money pledged by the public, the Stemmons Foundation of Dallas said it will donate $25,000 if TEFF can raise the rest of the $100,000.
