<< Back

News for the month of March 2002

Tiger Habitat Gets A Pond

March was an exciting month for Dave and I! Not to mention Marcan and Sherikon! We were finally able to do something we have been looking forward to for sometime, BUILD A POND for their tiger habitat!

As many of you are aware, tigers LOVE water! Especially in the Summer time when temperatures rise. For this reason, every Tiger Homes Sanctuary habit housing these animals has an aerial sprinkler system. With a flick of a switch David or myself cannot only water a habitat's landscaping, but also cool down its occupants. In addition to the sprinklers, we periodically provide large above ground swimming pools in their enclosures. This is something the tigers really look forward to. Although they are not very "Natural" looking, the tigers never seem to mind in the slightest. For years Dave and I fantasized about building a naturalistic "in ground" pound for them to frolic in.

We decided to create the Sanctuary's first pond in the large tiger habitat currently housing Marcan and Sherikon. Paying careful attention to placement (insuring a great "CAMERA VIEW") we decided to keep the design simple due to two very important factors. The first of these being ANIMAL SAFETY! The second being length of construction. For obvious reasons the pond had to be safe, but construction had to be fast due to the fact that we would have to move Marcan and Sherikon into a temporary habitat.

It ended up taking two days to complete. It went so fast from the time we removed a wall to allow access for the backhoe, to the cement truck pumping mud into the formed walls. In no time we had the well drilled and the cats were introduced.

I am sure many of our "On-Line" viewers were fortunate to witness the first time Marcan and Sherikon noticed their new water feature. It was AWESOME! The two of them had a blast! Running and pouncing in the water. Totally awesome. It is hard to put into words how to describe seeing such remarkable majestic animals having so much fun. A truly amazing piece of "Environmental Enrichment"! These guys had so much fun. Nothing splashes like 800 pounds of wild cats frolicking in the tub. TRUST ME!

David and I are looking forward to eventually adding an ?In-Ground? pond to each of the tiger habitats, not only for the cats' enjoyment, but yours as well. In the meantime, please enjoy watching Marcan and Sherikon pounce like kittens. Guaranteed tiger heaven!

Remember, there are many ways to help the cause. Here are a few.

1) Tell everyone you know about the website. By increasing the number of visitors, we increase the awareness of the danger these wonderful creatures face.
2) If you have a website, link to us - http://www.tigerhomes.org/
3) Submit our site http://www.tigerhomes.org/ to any webcam sites you may visit.
4) Make a donation to the sanctuary. There is an area on the gift shop for those who want to contribute.
5) Purchase items from the gift shop. They make great gifts and are for a worthy cause.
6) Adopt a pet. It's a great way to virtually own one of the sanctuary animals.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Remember, our main mission is to spread an interest in saving wild animals and wild places but we can't do it alone.

Story by: Jason and David