Local wildlife preserve protecting wild animals

By Dawn Treglown

COLLINSVILLE — The owners of a local wildlife preserve are up in a roar over animal extinction, and are determined to do their part to help as many animals as possible.

Tigers For Tomorrow is an exotic animal park and rescue preserve located at Untamed Mountain near Collinsville. Home to more than 100 animals, the preserve features a wide range of animals including tigers, lions, cougars, llamas, emus, tortoises, a bear, a camel and a zebra.

Some of the animals that live at the preserve simply needed a new home, while others suffered from cruelty or neglect at the hands of previous owners.

Susan Steffens-McCauley, who co-founded Tigers For Tomorrow and manages the park with her husband Wilbur, said the animals reside on eight acres. An additional eight acres have been cleared to provide for future expansion. With a couple of decades of experience under their belts, the McCauleys understand that animals need to have room to grow, nourish and thrive.

“One of our goals here is to provide habitat and space,” said Steffens-McCauley. The facility has been in operation in Alabama for almost two years after relocating from Florida.

A tour of the park and facilities includes a stop at the animal contact area. Here, visitors can feed barnyard animals while observing llamas, emus and a miniature horse. A camel and a zebra also live in the area. Adjacent to the animal contact area is an enclosure housing three African spurred tortoises, the second largest tortoise species in the world.

One of the tortoises was rescued from a mangrove beach in Florida. Another was found wandering down a street in Detroit.

“A lot of the animals here were someone's pet at one time,” Steffens-McCauley said. “For one reason or another, the owner could not care for the animal anymore or did not care for it properly.”

The next area of the tour is the carnivore compound, which includes living quarters for many of the 36 big cats at Tigers for Tomorrow. The large animals are provided with enough room within the enclosures to roam and live happily. The enclosures are 10 feet high, constructed of nine-gauge wire fencing.

New home to roam

Some of the tigers and wolves in the carnivore compound had lived on cement their whole lives before coming to Tigers For Tomorrow. Many had also been subjected to living in enclosures as small as 8 ft. square.

Although many of the species at Tigers For Tomorrow are found at zoos, most of the preserve's animals would not be accepted into zoos because of their bloodline uncertainty. Steffens-McCauley said zoos are considered “professionals in breeding.”

The zoos contain pure-bred animals and usually want only those animals whose bloodlines can be traced. Most of the rescued animals could not have their lineage traced with such certainty.

Some of the tigers at the facility have been beaten and abused. One of the rescued tigers came to the compound suffering from bone disease, hyperparathyroidism and cataracts.

“He had only about 10 percent of his vision,” Steffens-McCauley said. “Now he has gained about 60 percent back through proper medical and nutritional care.”

Another big cat was found in Kentucky living on macaroni and dog food.

The facility also houses several cougars and coatimundi, a breed of South American raccoon.

Further into the compound sits a quarantine and commissary area. Here, new arrivals may stay anywhere from 35-60 days before moving into their permanent home. A black bear currently resides in this area.

Because of the recent hot weather, Steffens-McCauley has been feeding the bear a cool, nutritional, bottled drink each day.

“He also loves sugar-free blueberry pies, too,” she said.

The black bear is in need of a new 50-by-50 feet enclosure for his home.

“At a cost of between $10,000 and $14,000, we hope someone will sponsor a bear enclosure,” Steffens-McCauley said.

The park and preserve is a non-profit organization and can provide people with the proper forms for tax-deductible donations. Steffens-McCauley said the preserve also needs other donated items and would provide a sponsorship sign for many structures and items.

Items needed include a small building to be used as a gift store and ticket booth, a golf cart, 30-gallon plastic barrels, large irrigation tubes, cement blocks, gravel, crushed rock, dog food and cat food. Steffens-McCauley said the preserve's operating expenses are currently around $300,000 a year.

The facility has to provide about 1,100 pounds of meat each week to feed most of the animals, although that amount goes up to between 1,700 and 1,800 pounds during the winter months.

“If anyone is cleaning out a freezer, we'll accept good chicken, beef, pork, venison and turkey,” Steffens-McCauley said. “We do ask that people quarter the fresh meat before bringing it here.”

Steffens-McCauley said people can also help by realizing these magnificent animals are a big responsibility and that they should not be considered as pets. They should be allowed to live outdoors in large spaces.

“The animals that come to live with us remain here for the rest of their lives,” said Steffens-McCauley. “Our goal is to provide a last-stop -- a safe, secure and peaceful place for these animals to live out their lives.”

Tigers For Tomorrow is located eight miles south of Collinsville at Untamed Mountain. It is open each Wednesday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children between the ages of 3 and 11. Children under 3 are admitted for free. Group rates are also available.

For further details, call Tigers For Tomorrow at 256-524-4150 or visit the web site at www.tigersfortomorrow.org.