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Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, is collecting real Christmas trees for its lions and tigers. “This time of year is really fun because Christmas trees are great enrichment for the big cats,” Laurie Vanderwal, a zoologist and co-curator at Turpentine Creek said. “They do like the smell of cedar and fir trees. It’s also something different and novel that they don’t get all the time.”Vanderwal said the refuge receives trees from locals and tree farms. They take trees with the decorations removed.Turpentine Creek has 123 animals, from big cats to grizzly bears, and even a hyena. Some of their animals are from the park in the popular show “Tiger King.””It was just such a relief because we knew those animals had not been getting proper care for many years,” Vanderwal said. The animals at the sanctuary were neglected by their past owners. She said caring for the animals goes beyond providing food and water. These animals cannot return to the wild because they were born and bred in captivity.”They don’t know how to hunt. They wouldn’t know how to survive,” Vanderwal said. “Because they’re coming from captive situations and abusive situations and neglect, they tend to come with veterinary issues.” Vanderwal said she’s in a profession she hopes doesn’t have to exist in the future. “Hopefully, that, you know, eventually people will not own these cats as pets anymore,” Vanderwal said. “People will not try to keep them in horrific conditions anymore. And the rescue part will not have to exist.”Vanderwal said they provide scent enrichment year-round. In spring and summer, they grow a garden of various spices like catnip, basil and oregano for the animals. Eureka Springs is located in the Ozark Mountains in Northwest Arkansas.
Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, is collecting real Christmas trees for its lions and tigers.
“This time of year is really fun because Christmas trees are great enrichment for the big cats,” Laurie Vanderwal, a zoologist and co-curator at Turpentine Creek said. “They do like the smell of cedar and fir trees. It’s also something different and novel that they don’t get all the time.”
Vanderwal said the refuge receives trees from locals and tree farms. They take trees with the decorations removed.
Turpentine Creek has 123 animals, from big cats to grizzly bears, and even a hyena. Some of their animals are from the park in the popular show “Tiger King.”
“It was just such a relief because we knew those animals had not been getting proper care for many years,” Vanderwal said.
The animals at the sanctuary were neglected by their past owners. She said caring for the animals goes beyond providing food and water. These animals cannot return to the wild because they were born and bred in captivity.
“They don’t know how to hunt. They wouldn’t know how to survive,” Vanderwal said. “Because they’re coming from captive situations and abusive situations and neglect, they tend to come with veterinary issues.”
Vanderwal said she’s in a profession she hopes doesn’t have to exist in the future.
“Hopefully, that, you know, eventually people will not own these cats as pets anymore,” Vanderwal said. “People will not try to keep them in horrific conditions anymore. And the rescue part will not have to exist.”
Vanderwal said they provide scent enrichment year-round. In spring and summer, they grow a garden of various spices like catnip, basil and oregano for the animals.
Eureka Springs is located in the Ozark Mountains in Northwest Arkansas.
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