Wildlife Survival News and update pages, we are a non-profit 501c3 exotic animal rescue facility located in spring hill Florida. Specializing in lions, tigers, leopards, cheetahs,jaguar and cougars

March 31, 2008-

March was definitely a wild ride, but it was worth it!! Thanks to all of our hard working volunteers we were able to accomplish the following:

· We cleaned, readied, and organized the entire property for hosting a major tour event!

· Hosted over one hundred and eighty first grade students, chaperones, and teachers for an educational tour event.

· Purchased and installed a new park bench dedicated to our Veterinarian, Dr. Dave Griffin.

· Installed a Fountain/wishing well at the visitor center.

· Re-worked three habitats, including major tree clearing, new platforms, and new den boxes.

· We had our U.S.D.A. inspection and received a perfect report.

· Continued to increase our educational outreach programs to students.

· We gave new homes to a pair of African Leopards named Mom and Pop, who are reported to be between 20 and 25 years old! Mom and Pop are actually the parent's of Kiya, another Leopard living here.

And since most facilities don't take older animals, being to provide them new homes was a very special occasion!!!

· We provided a new home to a 5 year old Female Puma named Pilar. She came from a facility that is being shut down by State and Federal agencies.

Thank you to everyone involved, you DO make a difference here,…..everyday!!!

Wildlife Survival being able to provide homes for three animals in dire need was a great feeling! But going forward it doesn't get easier!

Because along with our new residents came more duties and greater responsibilities.

And we will need to work even harder to make sure they have the best care and the best lives possible!!

Jim

March 29, 2008-On Saturday March 29th Wildlife Survival Sanctuary was pleased to welcome our newest resident, Pilar to her new home!!
Pilar is a female Cougar/panther mix who will be 5 years old in June and weighs about 65lbs.

She is a beautiful cat, with loads of personality!!! She is in the habitat adjoining Zeuss and hopefully they will get along great!

The story behind her coming to Wildlife Survival is posted below:

Big cat rescue in Polk County closing
Thursday, March 27, 2008
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POLK COUNTY (Bay News 9) -- The Horseshoe Creek Wildlife Sanctuary in Davenport is closing.

Darryl Atkinson, who founded the sanctuary, said he cant afford to keep the place going. He also sites legal problems.

Atkinson has taken in animals for 25 years. He took in animals that other people no longer wanted.

"They were photography cats where people could hold them as babies," Atkinson said. "But after they got too big for that they were no longer wanted or had a place to go."

Both state and federal agencies have cited him for violations many times, mostly for the size and strength of his cages.

Hes trying to find other sanctuaries to take the big cats but hes afraid some older animals wont survive the change.

"They could die," Atkinson said. "Because of the traumatic experience and stress on them to another facility."

Currently, Atkison said hes having to rely on the generosity of friends who also have wildlife sanctuaries to help supply him with meat until he can find new homes for his animals. Workers are upset and Darryl Atkinson said he feels like hes losing his family.

"I have an ex-wife because of my dedication to the animals," Atkinson said. "I have no family. These guys are my family. So every time one leaves, its literally a piece of my heart being ripped out."

March 15, 2008- On March 15, 2008 Wildlife Survival was very happy to welcome two new Leopards! "Mom" and "Pop", male and female African Leopards who are approximately 25 years old!!!! The facility they were living at was forced to move to a new location and they had to down-size. We were contacted a few weeks ago and asked to provide homes for them. We then spent the last several weeks preparing their habitat, building new platforms and adding extra safety features. I had been very concerned about their transport for several reasons.

       Stressing them out at their age would be fatal! And tranquilizing older animals can be very risky and just as deadly! Most drugs are filtered either thru the kidneys or the liver and if an animal is weak the drugs can cause a cascading shut-down of the organs! It also didnt help my state of mind that the number one killer of big cats is renal (kidney) failure and as the cat gets older, the kidneys obviously grower weaker. And any kind of stress can send an older animal in renal failure! We packed all of our tranquilization gear, but resolved to move them without tranquilizing them if at all possible! But this effort would be further complicated by the fact that they are fully clawed and not very "people friendly"!

     Fortunately, we were able to lure them into our transport boxes with help from Dawn and several pieces of chicken! They were a little upset, but were relaxed enough to eat the chicken we brought with us. We then loaded them into our rental van and hoped they would remain calm during the hour and half trip home, especially since we would all be crammed together in the van!! The trip exceeded our best hopes! After their morning snack, Pop slept for most of the trip.    Mom, well she was totally fascinated by all the new sights and stared out the window for the entire trip! Once we arrived at the sanctuary, we immediately introduced them into their new habitat and they explored every square inch of it! They were very relaxed and even played after awhile!

          Other than a sore on Pops tail and both being underweight, they appear to be in good condition. We immediately started feeding them twice a day to slowly build their body mass back up. We don't want to shock their systems by trying to feed them too much food, too quickly! Our promise to Mom and Pop is simple, provide them the best home and the best care possible for the rest of their lives!! Hopefully they will have many happy years here!!! Because they are already in our hearts! I would like to thank everyone who made this possible!! Susan, Melanie, Ryan, Travis, Nicole, Dale, Laura, Debbie, Jennifer, Fred, Dawn, Linda, Mary, and Melanie's uncle! And there are so many more people to thank!! To everyone who has ever volunteered here or come out for a tour, or even donated a dollar, you have helped ..Thank you!!! Jim

March 11, 2008- On Tuesday March 11th, Wildlife Survival Sanctuary hosted over one-hundred and seventy 1st grade school children from Deltona Elementary school !!! It took 4 school buses to transport them here!

The kids were great, they were all very well behaved!!! We were very impressed with their knowledge and the questions they asked about the animals. It was a wonderful experience for everyone!!! Thank you to all of our volunteers, the Teachers, the Parents and especially the children!!!! It was an amazing day!!!!

     Jim

March 3, 2008- January and February updates

The New Year started off great for everyone at the Sanctuary! All of our animals are healthy and happy!!! And that is the most important update!!!!

A special thanks to Cline and Ronny, who volunteered at the Sanctuary in January and Mlanie who started in February and will be helping for several months. They are wonderful people whose help has been invaluable!!

Thanks to their efforts and those of volunteers; Susan, Dale, Ryan, Brigitte, Debbie, Jennifer, Laura, Jessie, we were able to not only provide excellent care for our animals, but we also accomplished:

Added 2 Tiger transport cages.

Increased operant conditioning days.

Installed timer on Sasha and Sergeis pool.

Extended Cougar and Tashas habitat.

Finished 2 squeeze cages ( so we can give shots easier)

Re-organized fenced area.

Moved barricade system around Cougar and Tashas habitat.

Cleaned and cleared more property around habitats.

Added several new school group tours.

Updated all medical supplies and procedures.

Added new shelves and platforms for Cougar and Tasha.

Roofed, sealed, and installed an additional shelter for Arnold.

Cleared several major trees, took out old platforms, raked leaves, and laid grass seed in 2 habitats not currently occupied, but may be used for new residents!

Thank you for your interest in the Sanctuary and all of our residents!!! And especially for being a friend!!!!!

Jim

January 23, 2008- In December we finished 2007 off on a high note. We cleaned and cleared most of the property, we completely reorganized our storage buildings and our visitor center, we helped design and purchased new merchandise for the gift shop, put up all of our Christmas decorations, installed all of our new animal name signs, and refitted our display canopy.
              Then we held our 5th Annual Big Cat Christmas!!! It was an amazing success!! We met a lot of new friends and caught up with some old ones, it was a great time for everyone!
                 As always, we celebrate the holidays with our animals, so everyone had Christmas dinners!! Our Tigers, Misty, Sasha and Sergei all had their own turkeys.

                       The Leopards, Cougars, and Servals (Majik, Kiya, Zeus, Savannah, Felcia, and Hamlet) all had rock-cornish hens. And the birds, deer, and Arnold the potbellied pig all had watermelon treats. All of the animals also had special treats and extra enrichment all week long!!!
             2008 started off with a bang! We have almost completed a whole new captive restraint protocol and we are half-way thru 1 habitat expansion, but more about that in a future update!
             I really want thank all the people who helped accomplish so much in December!!! Susan (Mom), Dale, Ryan, Brigitte, Debbie, Jennifer, Laura, Jessie, Marc, Crystal, and Chantal. We would not exist without their efforts, and I cannot thank them enough!!!!!!! And thank you to everyone who helped make 2007 a great year for the animals!!!!!

                             Jim

November 31, 2007- October and November Updates!! Thanks to everyone who has been helping at the Sanctuary!! A special thanks to Marielle and Catherine, who were extremely helpful and a lot of fun to have around!! Also to Bruce, Lynn, Roger, Steve, Leif, Arcidio, Mike, Rick, Brent, and everyone else at Shady hills power who come out and help keep the property mowed and cleared!! And thanks to Kevin and George at George's appliance who set us up with a great deal on 2 a/c units for our Visitor center!

Some of the projects we were able to accomplish: We added more hanging toys for all the Cats, we decided on the location for the new small cat habitat, and laid out the first level. The Shady Hills group Bush-hogged the Deer and Ratite pens. We re-designed our information signs and made a great deal on having them all printed. We gutted our gift shop, re-organized it and are in the process of clearing the back room.

We made a deal with a company on all new merchandise, featuring photos of all our animals!! And the big project during October and November was to prepare for our 5th annual Big Cat Christmas in December!! And we were able to clear and clean most of the property and buildings in preparation for the event!! Thanks to everyone!!! More on the Event in December's update. And most important of all, our residents are doing great and with a lot of help and support from the people involved, we are moving forward everyday!!!!! Thanks Again!!

September 31, 2007- Well another month already gone! And so many people to thank! First off, Dale, Celia, Valerie, and Susan who installed a new platform for Majik, Kiya, and Asia to use. The platform is in Kiya's cage, but we shift Asia into her cage for periods of time. When Asia is in Kiyas cage, he loves hanging out on the new platform!!! Of course he leaves his scent all over it, and then Majik and Kiya spend all day checking out his scent!!! We also installed additional bird feeders, so we now have one bird feeder in view of each of our cat cages. This way we help native wildlife and give all of our cats additional enrichment! The cats love watching the birds and squirrels that come everyday to the feeders!!! We also installed a mister system for the Servals and wired it to automatically turn on 4 times a day. The Servals seem to love the misters!!! Thanks to everyone at Shady Hills Power, they bush hogged most of the property and it looks great!!!!

August 31, 2007- I can't believe August is already over!!! But we did accomplish alot!!! Thanks to Eliza, Celia, Dale, Susan, Ryan, Laura, Debbie, Vicky, Jason, Jared, and Carl! We have a new operant conditioning program up and running, we did major expansions to our Ratite habitat, set-up a water-proof enclosure for our generator, we replaced our humane wild animal traps, that were stolen from us. We also had several large pine trees removed. They were in animal habitats and could have caused a great deal of damage if they fell! Thanks to Burr's Tree service for an awesome job!! And to Carl's Fence who did the Ratite expansion!! And we have a ton planned for September!!!

July 29, 2007- Well its been another busy month! First of all thanks to Susan, Dale, Ryan, Brigitte, Laura, Tiff, Justine, Pip, Margaux, Fred, Vicki, and Jason. With everyone's help, we have the completed the mister system on Zeus's entire habitat, and wired it to automatically come on at different times of the day! We found a new style of mister head that puts out a heavier mist, and it seems to work alot better for our roof mounted application, so we changed out all the old sprinkler heads on the the Tigers lock-out to these new mister heads. Also, we have added platforms and a balance beam for the Servals, and installed new hanging toys for Asia and Zeus, installed a mister system on Misty's lockout area. We also replaced the old sprinklers on Misty's and Sasha/Sergei's habitat, and then we wired everything for automatic control. Still lots more to do!!!!!

July 16, 2007- Zeus is a not just a kewl kat, because of his personality, he is also a COOL cat, because we just installed a full mister system in 1 of his habitats. We will finish the mister system in his other habitat next weekend. And then the Servals are next!!! We also have new sprinklers in Misty's lock out, and we replaced the broken sprinklers in her and Sasha & Sergei's habitats. Thanks to Pip, Justine, Ryan, and Crystal for their help! And to Fred who handled food prep, so we could keep working on the misters as long as possible. And thanks to Dale, Susan, Vicki, and Jason for cleaning, mowing, and weed-eating Zeus's habitats. Pictures are coming!!!!!

June 30, 2007- Thanks to Fred and Ryan's help we installed the new pool for Sasha and Sergei. Their old one was in dire need of repair! Check out the pictures of the pool being installed and being enjoyed by the Tigers!

We plan on repairing and installing it in the back of their cage. In upcoming news, mom (Susan) will have 2 new volunteers next week, so she will be adding some platforms and balance beams for the cats! She does an awesome job handling the daily chores including, daily enrichment for all of the animals, cage cleaning, training new volunteers, feeding, and so much more!!! And thanks to Ryan who has been helping on all levels during the week, Brigitte who does all the caretaking on the weekend, Fred who helps wherever and whenever needed, Laura who helps with feeding, and to all involved, Thank you!!!!!!

June 21,2007- Ok so its been awhile since the last update :) Alot has happened!! Quick re-cap; We rescued Cougar, Zeus, Midnight, Sundari, Savannah, Tasha, 4 Emus and 1 Ostrich. We lost Buddy, Lotus, Violet, Bob, Sheene, and Elvis. They will all be greatly missed by everyone!
We have consistently received perfect inspections from U.S.D.A. We got our visitor center up and running. And this year we kicked off an International Intern program, with great success! We have volunteers from multiple countries booked thru the end of the year. Check out the link to our volunteer photo page for some of the new faces and projects! I'm going start cross posting new blogs on our myspace and here, so stay tuned!

June 2007- With help from Ryan and Danae we completed a tunnel from Asia's cage to Kiya's cage. Now Asia can go into Kiya's cage and play in the trees and scent mark her cage. When we let Majik and Kiya back into the cage, they will have fun re-marking the cage! Check out the link for photos of the construction of the tunnel and Asia checking out the area.

November 23, 2003- Wildlife welcomed its two newest residents, a pair of African Servals. Felicia and Hamlet!

September 24, 2003- Wildlife Survival Sanctuary became a USDA accredited Sanctuary!!

December 21, 2002- It was a busy day as we welcomed 2 new residents! Little bird, a Rhea who was found wandering thru a local neighborhood. Our 2nd rescue was Misty a female Bengal Tiger who came to us from an Orlando area Zoo. Misty's rescue was in memory of Melissa Vitti, and sponsored by Douglas Rosen. Our thanks to Chris and Dr. Griffin for their help in both these rescues!

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November 30, 2002-Travis, Shawn, Larry and Doug helped catch us up on several projects! We now have lights at most of the animal habitats!! We were able to complete a new habitat for an upcoming rescue.

October 19, 2002- We welcomed our newest additions! 2 Iguanas, named Slick and Spike!! Slick is a female about 9 yrs old, and Spike is a 7 year old male. They came from a very loving and caring home!!! But their owners are expecting a baby, and they felt this was the best solution. We are very happy they decided to place them with us!!!

September 1, 2002- Our food prep area is up and running!!! It is a beautiful, well designed fully functional prep area that is state of the art!! Thanks to Todd, Ethan, & Sandy for working so hard to help finish food prep!!!!! Our heartfelt thanks to all who were involved in this massive project!!!

September 1, 2002- Picked up Sasha and Sergei!!! They are 4 1/2 month old Siberian Tiger cubs, brother and sister. After much thought we agreed to give homes to both, because we did not want to see them separated! They are intact and fully clawed! We have had them spayed and neutered, but we will not de-claw them. Sasha shows several signs of inbreeding, and we have started her on a special supplement program to help with a potential hip problem!

August 24, 2002- Our new sign went up!!!!! 8 feet long by 4 feet tall !!!!! Thanks so much to Tracy Burnopp for his efforts in getting the sign and installing it !!!!!! And thanks to Scott & John for our decal and future signs!!

July 27, 2002- Our thanks to Susan Schafer, Antonio Berrios, Lee Gardner, and David Sheets. They donated their time to setup all the electrical needs in our new food prep building!!!

July 14, 2002- Wildlife Survival is pleased to announce our newest arrival!! A female Ostrich, whom we named Big-bird. And she is just what her name implies! B.B., weighs in at almost 300lbs.!! She came from a great home and is in excellent health, other than missing some feathers.

July 6, 2002- Wildlife Survival helped place several goats. We have met several people who rehabilitate injured animals, if we can't provide a home, we will help by putting people in touch who can.

July 4, 2002- Wildlife Survival attended the 4th of July celebration at Weeki-Wachi, where we met a lot of wonderful people!! Our thanks to everyone who helped and those who spent time talking with us!!!!

June 27, 2002- Natalie in Utah contacted us and requested we give homes to her 3 Sugar Gliders! We certainly never expected to place animals from so far away, but we were thrilled and honored! We also didn't know that her female was pregnant! So without planning to even have Sugar Gliders, we now have a colony!!!

June 23, 2002- The St. Pete times did a wonderful article on us!! Hopefully its the first of many to come!! Thanks to Joy and Daniel for seeing, and writing about the good we all are trying to do!!!

February 2, 2002- We are so very happy to welcome Buddy a 7 year old male Cougar!!! He is one of the sweetest Cats we have rescued!!! And even though he is fully clawed, he is very gentle and extremely loving! He loves to be scratched and will lay his head in your hand to have his chin scratched! Our thanks to everyone who helped get him to his new home! Buddy had several health problems we had to deal with, costing us over 600.00! It was money well spent!!!! He has improved remarkably!! Click on the link to see him now.

December 8, 2001- Our second Sugar Glider rescue! We were happy to give a new home to a female Sugar Glider! She is in great shape and settling in nicely.

December 1, 2001- Wildlife Survival was pleased to give homes to 4 Emus, 2 Florida White-tailed deer, and 1 Bobcat! What a day!!!! Our thanks to their owners for placing them with us, and special thanks to Chris, Shawn, Dave, and Travis!!!! Without their help it would not have been possible! Click the link to see our new additions! We didn't set out to rescue livestock, we will try to keep as many as we can, and find good homes for those we can't keep.

November 29, 2001- Our first Sugar Glider rescues!! We were happy to give a home to pair of Sugar Gliders. The male is in good shape, but the female had a piece of string wrapped around her rear leg and tail, both areas were black and had to be amputated, However she is doing fine now!

	November 17, 2001- We would like to welcome our newest resident!! Lotus, a 3 month old female cougar. We are grateful to her previous owner for giving us the opportunity to provide her with the best home possible!!!!
	September 29, 2001- Wildlife Survival Sanctuary is proud to announce our first big cat rescues!! Benji a 17 year old male Bengal tiger and Sheene a 5 year old female cougar. We would like to thank Benji and Sheene's previous owners for their concern in making sure that they would have the best possible home!! These are adult cats that were in real need of new homes, too many so-called sanctuaries tend to only rescue cubs! *note we were first informed Benji was 12 years old, but found out he is actually 17!
	September 27, 2001- Wildlife Survival has given a permanent home to Elvis the Emu Elvis was found wandering thru a residential area and picked up by animal control. He was adopted by Wildlife Survival, and now has a permanent home!!!!! Click on the link to see him or go to " our residents " page to see and read more about him!
	September 11, 2001- Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of this cowardly act of violence! We feel so much sadness for the families who have lost loved ones! Words can never express the loss or outrage!
	September 9, 2001- Our first permanent rescue! Arnold the pot-bellied pig. Click on the link to see Arnold or go to the "our residents" page.
	September 1, 2001- Congratulations to Jay Roberson!!!!!! Jay won our 2nd raffle. The prize was an 11x14 matted and framed picture of his choice! Jay chose "Grooming" as his favorite!! Thanks to everyone who entered and to our volunteers who worked so hard to sell tickets!!!!
	August 2001- Wildlife Survival rescued 3 baby squirrels who were found by a local resident. The babies, whose eyes weren't even open yet, were cold and covered with ants. Click on the link to see how they're doing now!

August 2001 - Wildlife Survival just finished its first raffle! The prize was an 11x14 framed and matted picture of their choice. Congratulations to Sue McDonald!! Sue chose "Charge" as her prize. Our thanks to Sue and everyone who entered our raffle!!!!!! Click on the link to see the picture she chose.