Friday, August 1, 2008

Golden Retriever Adopts 3 Abandoned Tiger Cubs at Kansas Zoo

Submitted by Timmy

Isabella, a golden retriever at the Safari Zoological Park, near Caney, Kan., nurses three white tiger cubs she adopted.

Safari Zoological Park owner Tom Harvey said the tiger cubs were born Sunday, but the mother had problems with them.

A day later, the mother stopped caring for them. Harvey said the cubs were wandering around, trying to find their birth mother, who wouldn't pay attention to them. That's when the cubs were put in the care of a golden retriever, Harvey said.

Harvey said it's unusual for dogs to care for tiger cubs, but it does happen. He said he has seen reports of pigs nursing cubs in China, and he actually got the golden retriever after his wife saw television accounts of dogs caring for tiger cubs.

Puppies take about the same amount of time as tiger cubs to develop, and Harvey said the adoptive mother just recently weaned her own puppies.

"The timing couldn't have been any better," he said.

The mother doesn't know the difference, Harvey said. He said the adopted mother licks, cleans and feeds the cubs. /**/

The Safari Zoological Park is a licensed facility open since 1989 and specializes in endangered species.

It has leopards, lions, cougars, baboons, ring-tailed lemurs, bears and other animals. It currently has seven white tigers and two orange tigers.

Because whit tigers are inbred from the first specimen found more than a half-century ago, they are not as genetically stable as orange tigers(This is his attempt, conversing with an uninformed reporter, at showing what a "skilled Zoologist" he is."

The zoo's previous litter of white tiger cubs was born April 23, although one of the three has since gone to a private zoo near Oklahoma City.(From one roadside zoo to another roadside zoo. Must have been a new bloodline)/

This is a "roadside/private zoo" not to be confused with a "Zoological Park"

6 comments:

Casey McCoy Cainan said...

I got your Timmy rite here....

Anonymous said...

Wade, their website says:

"Project Miracle For almost two decades Safari Zoological Park has been sharing the vision of how animals are struggling to survive on our planet. Now we are also on the edge of extinction.

The last two years have brought many challenges. Gas prices soared to new highs, schools were forced to cut back on field trips. Drought and extreme high temperatures in July and August forced people to stay inside. New laws passed last year in Kansas added to the impact making it impossible to do pictures with our babies. Insurance cost went up 5 times the cost that we were paying. Last year field trips for schools were at an all time low with only 445 students. (our average was close to 2000 students)

All that means nothing when you believe that God is in control. We have seen many miracles over the last 18 years. This one will be the biggest! Many people focus on making a living, few focus on making a difference! You can make a difference in the future of these animals.

Our sponsorship program must be filled now or the zoo will be forced to close. It’s out of our hands and into yours. We believe in the mission of this zoo and what it stands for. Please keep the zoo in your prayers."

This kind of place shouldn't exist in the first place. Now the future of their animals is uncertain, and the situation is deplorable! They appear to be nothing more than a white tiger "mill", and I could probably even guess which animal dealer provided them their founding stock, or the founding stock of the mill that provided that, etc. However, the entire history of these beautiful animals has been riddled with corruption and greed, from the time of the Maharaja of Rewa selling heterozygotes to an animal dealer in Calcutta and the National Zoo in Washington DC selling heterozygotes to an animal dealer in Georgia in the early days, to the breeding of backyard-bred stock that continues today. Incidentally, it is when the heterozygotes go out the back door of one place, and produce white cubs at another, that the baloney of "new lines" starts. And I will save my rant about champagne lions being bred for the gun in South Africa for another time.
Mary Ann

Wade G. Burck said...

Casey,
Wrong. I got "your Timmy" right here. When you get a decent pair of tiger training footwear, walk over here and Timmy this. LOL
Wade

Casey McCoy Cainan said...

Thats the difference between me and you Wade. I make training tigers in flip flops look GOOD,,lol

Wade G. Burck said...

Mary Ann,
It is not a rant. The smoke and self serving spin just cleared away, and you saw the "mission statement." When I speak to "they are like my children, or they are my family" that's not a rant, it's a realization of smoke and self serving spin. Is it justified to get the donation for other things? Or to get the patron into the box office? I don't know, I can't answer that.
Wade

Wade G. Burck said...

Casey,
About as good as an eighty year old stripper makes dancing look, that's how good. Lets put it to a public vote, and ask Goodfella Joe Pesche. And bring your "shine box" with you.
Wade