Page 22 - SOM FALL 2017 BOOK

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WHAT’S NEW
SUMATRAN TIGERS

ildlife Safari and the Ladies
WAuxiliary of Wildlife Safari are
preparing to celebrate the grand opening
of the Tiger Oasis, a major expansion to
the park’s Sumatran tiger habitat. Sumatran
tigers are critically endangered and the goal
of the newly expanded habitat is to launch
a Sumatran tiger breeding center on Safari
grounds in cooperation with the Association
of Zoos and Aquariums Species Survival Plan.
“Wildlife Safari is well known for our species
conservation efforts, especially in big cats,”
explains Dan Brands, the Safari’s general
curator who is responsible for the entire ani-
mal collection at the park. “We have incred-
ibly successful breeding programs for animals
not known for being easy to breed, especially
the cheetah, where we excel to the number
two cheetah breeding center on Earth.”
The park boasts 214 cheetah births, and is
second only to the De Wild Cheetah and
Wildlife Centre in South Africa. Wildlife
Safari hopes that it can help combat the criti-
cally endangered status of the Sumatran tiger
by extending their success in big cat breeding
and conservation into the tiger subspecies.

The Ladies Auxiliary of Wildlife Safari
(LAWS) held their annual benefit dinner
and auction in support of the Tiger Oasis on
September 8, 2016 and raised over $135,000
to complete the project in a single evening.
In the many years that the LAWS has been
throwing benefits for the park, they’ve raised
over $2.2 million and completed projects
such as the Elephant Waterhole, one of the
park’s top attractions, and the Animal Health
Center, a full-service animal hospital which
also hosts an international veterinary educa-
tion program.

Animals from Wildlife Safari’s captive breed-
ing programs are represented in zoos across
the country and help to highlight and share
in the goal of conservation of wildlife all
around the world.
www.wildlifesafari.net

20 www.southernoregonmagazine.com | fall 2017