Big-cat shelter resettles 2 more

Leopards go; exit likely for 10 tigers

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Riverglen Tiger Shelter near Mountainburg gave two black leopards to a Kansas conservatory Friday, and a Eureka Springs refuge has raised enough money to adopt 10 more of Riverglen’s tigers.

Betty Young, 72, the owner of Riverglen, is trying to give away most of her large cats because she’s having health problems. In early November, Riverglen had 34 large cats, and with the exit of the two leopards, it now has 23.

Young said she wants to keep about 10 big cats at Riverglen, all of them tigers.

Young said she gave two leopards on Friday to Cedar Cove Feline Conservatory and Education Center near Louisburg, Kan., about 20 miles south of Kansas City. They were a 21-year-old male named Dennis and an 18-year-old female named Crabgrass.

The two leopards’ weights ranged from 120 and 150 pounds, said Bettie Jeanne “BJ” Auch, senior curator at Cedar Cove. On Nov. 23, Young gave the same conservatory two white tigers that were each close to 600 pounds.

Auch said the facility won’t take any more big cats from Riverglen in the near future because “we’re out of room and don’t have the funding.”

Cedar Cove now has 13 big cats: eight tigers, three leopards and two African lions, said Auch. The nonprofit conservatory, which she described as an educational center, is open to the public on weekends and charges a $5 admission fee.

Last month, Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge near Eureka Springs adopted seven of Riverglen’s big cats: six tigers and a cougar.

Turpentine Creek has been raising money through its Facebook page to build new cages and take more of Riverglen’s cats. Scott Smith, vice president at Turpentine Creek, said it has raised about $84,000 toward a goal of $238,000. The organization based the goal on the cost of building cages and infrastructure for all 34 cats.

Smith said the refuge already had space to take in the first seven big cats.

“That put us at maximum capacity, so we had to build more,” he said. “We should finish the 10 [additional cages] if the weather keeps cooperating, and maybe by the first of the year we’ll be moving cats.”

Turpentine Creek has 116 big cats after taking in cats from Riverglen.

On its website, turpentinecreek.org and Facebook page, Turpentine Creek refers to the situation as a “rescue” of the animals at Riverglen.

But Young takes issue with that.

“I called and asked for help and got the SWAT team,” she said, referring to calls she made to the Crawford County sheriff’s office and a person affiliated with Turpentine Creek.

Sheriff Ron Brown said he met Turpentine Creek workers at Riverglen when they moved the seven cats to Carroll County.

“I was only there at the request of Turpentine Creek in case one of the animals were to get loose or become aggressive,” said Brown. But that didn’t happen.

As a nonprofit “wildlife sanctuary” under Arkansas Code Annotated 29-19-501(3)(a), Riverglen doesn’t have to follow federal or state regulations regarding cages. It’s up to the sheriff’s office to inspect the facility.

Brown said he sees no problem with the facilities at Riverglen. The sheriff said his main concern is that something might happen to Young and then he would become responsible for her tigers.

Brown said he understood from the beginning that finding homes for 24 of Young’s big cats would take six to nine months.

Young said most of the cats she has now may remain at Riverglen for a while because winter is coming on. It’s unsafe to tranquilize tigers when the temperature is below 50 degrees, she said.

Auch said tranquilizing a large cat when it’s too hot or too cold can be “very dangerous.”

“They can’t regulate their own body temperature when they’re under sedation,” she said. “It can be done, but the risk is a lot higher to the animal.”

Young said she could use some volunteer help at Riverglen.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 12/13/2012