Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge Rescues Two Tigers From Oklahoma Zoo Closing Due To Owner's Illness

(2020) A few days before Valentine’s Day, Turpentine Creek was contacted by the Big Cat Sanctuary Alliance (BCSA), which Turpentine Creek is a founding member of, to rescue two orange tigers from a closing Zoo in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, due to illness. The zoo owner, Robert, had had both tigers from a young age and raised them himself. He initially got Kiara in at the age of 12 weeks from a facility in Oklahoma, which he described as “not a good place to grow up in”. He later got Naula at the age of 2 weeks from the same place.

Naula is a 6-year-old Indonesian tiger estimated to weigh about 240 pounds. She is missing part of her tail due to a self-inflicted injury when she was about 2 years old.

Kiara is a 9-year-old generic tiger that is estimated to weigh nearly 400 pounds.

A few team members from Turpentine Creek were, luckily, already in Oklahoma on the 20th for an event, so they packed up much of the rescue equipment and trailer for their trip. A few other team members left early in the morning on Friday, February 21, 2020, to arrive at WPZ by 10am.

Both tigers were well cared for at WPZ, the facility offered enrichment for their animals and fed a well-rounded diet, they passed their health inspections with flying colors, both at a healthy weight and current on their vaccinations.

Learn more about Turpentine Wildlife Refuge at
https://www.turpentinecreek.org/

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