Wildlife Safari Celebrates Success in Saving Big Cats
& Welcomes Global Wildlife Conservation to Southern Oregon
Winston, Oregon
In 1972, the Wildlife Safari in Winston, Oregon opened to
the public. Shortly after the park’s grand opening, a cheetah breeding program
was established and settled into the picturesque hills of Southern Oregon.
Since the program began, Wildlife Safari has celebrated milestones and
biological achievement among not only cheetahs, but with all of the big cats
that call the park home. Since the inception of the cheetah breeding program
at Safari, the park has blossomed into the most successful cheetah breeding
facility outside of Africa and the number two facility on Earth, second only to
The Ann van Dyk Cheetah Centre in De Wildt, South Africa.
On the afternoon of August 28, 2016, sometime between 1:20
& 3:35pm, Wildlife Safari welcomed its 200th cheetah, along with
a total litter of four cubs, to the world. In support of their mission to
conserve and save big cat species, Safari auctioned off the naming rights to
the litter of 4 at the September 9th annual Ladies Auxiliary of
Wildlife Safari auction, an event which raised the park well over its $150,000
goal, grossing almost $200,000 before expenses.
“Moonfire is a very healthy 9 year old Cheetah and she's
being a wonderful mom, taking excellent care of her cubbies,” Benji Alcantar,
MVZ, the park’s head veterinarian said, “very attentive of their needs. The
cubbies where born on Sunday August 28th, all weigh in at between 2
and just over 3 pounds, 2 girls and 2 boys, all very active and developing very
quickly. They are healthy, happy and fat little cubbies.”
The exclusive rights to the names of the litter of cheetahs
containing number 200 were auctioned off to members of the community that have
been long-time supporters of the park including David & Kelley Trinchero
who named their cub David, Lauren & Dena Young who selected the name Clark
II, Dr. Stewart & Sharon Wilson who chose the name Rebel and Allyn &
Cheryl Ford who named their cub Jezebel. Dr. Stewart & Sharon Wilson are
also known to have named the mother of the current litter, Moonfire.
The funds raised from the naming rights of the new cheetahs
will support this year’s selected Ladies Auxiliary project, to build an
expansion to the existing tiger habitat known as the Tiger Oasis, and to
increase veterinary access to the pair of tigers living at the Safari park.
But the big cat conservation doesn’t stop with a new tiger
habitat and 200 cheetahs. Safari is expecting another cheetah litter by the end
of September and will use the expanded tiger habitat to launch a new breeding
program- to increase the population and genetic viability of critically
endangered Sumatran tigers. That’s right; Wildlife Safari is planning to have
tiger cubs in Southern Oregon.
“So, currently, Wildlife Safari is the biggest, most well
known cheetah breeding center in the country, and second in the world,”
explained Sarah Roy, who has been supervising the carnivore program since 2008,
“We also house some of the most genetically valuable lions for the lion
breeding programs in the country and we are looking to extend that into
tigers.”
Sumatran tigers are critically endangered with fewer than
500 left in the wild. Wildlife Safari is hoping they can flex some of their
incredible successes in big cat breeding to help turn the tide for the Sumatran
tiger.
“Sumatran tigers are the most endangered of all the tiger
sub-species,” Roy continued, “and we have the perfect space and environment
here to have a successful tiger breeding program as well.”
Wildlife Safari plans to begin construction on the new Tiger
Oasis as soon as contracts are secure and weather permits.
On Monday, October 10 at 3:00, Wildlife Safari will host
Rebecca Klein, one of three founders of Cheetah Conservation Botswana and an
expert in human-wildlife conflict.
“We’re excited to provide the public with an opportunity to
meet with Klein, who is working to support cheetahs in Botswana, the nation
with the second largest population of wild cheetahs,” Roy explained. Reminding
that “Wildlife Safari provides an interesting parallel to the second highest
population of wild cheetah with our second most successful captive breeding
program.”
Pancake the cheetah and her dog companion Dayo at Wildlife
Safari are meant to highlight the increasingly important relationship between
wild cheetahs and ‘Livestock Guard Dogs’ in Africa.
According to Roy, “cheetahs are a flight animal, meaning
their instinct when they are in danger is to run, not to fight. So in Africa,
dogs are raised alongside livestock and they chase the cheetahs off, rather
than farmers having to protect their livestock from the cats using other
methods, including killing the wild cheetahs.”
Cheetah Conservation Botswana is also committed to combating
the decline of wild cheetah populations and their work to train farmers and
raise these specially trained dogs has seen a steep decline in the number of
cheetahs killed to protect livestock. CCB also runs a long list of other
conservation projects from tracking the cats with ‘crittercams’ to see what
their daily lives entail to educating the public on human-wildlife conflict.
The global wildlife conservation efforts at Wildlife Safari
go even further than big cats.
“Each year the Wildlife Safari Conservation Committee sends
over $18,000 to various conservation projects all over the world,” explains
Leila Goulet, Safari’s education director and the head of the conservation
committee, “aside from Safari’s mission to educate our local and visiting
public, we are also committed to wildlife conservation on a global level.”
According to Safari staff, one dollar from every close
encounter sold at Wildlife Safari makes up the fund that is distributed to
various organizations each year. The Wildlife Safari Conservation Committee
supports two permanent projects- Cheetah Conservation Botswana and the
International Elephant Foundation- and one rotating project. This year’s
selected rotating project is Proyecto Titi, helping to protect the cotton
topped tamarin in Colombia.
Though tickets are free, Safari advises visiting their
facebook page and reserving your seats to the talk to guarantee your
space.
Re-Release Note/ Corrections: A previous release of
this news contained the incorrect statement that Dr. Stewart and Sharon Wilson
raised Moonfire, the mother cheetah. Wildlife Safari regrets this error as the
statement above, that Dr. Stewart and Sharon Wilson named Moonfire, is correct.
All images credited to Wildlife Safari.
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Wildlife Safari provides exciting and unique adventures
into the world of exotic and indigenous animals. This 600 acre 4.5 mile
drive-thru animal park is located off I-5 at exit 119 in Winston, Oregon.
Featured are hundreds of animals representing Africa, Asia, and the Americas
where “You are captive and they roam free.”
Drive-thru tickets, daily and private animal ‘You Feed’
encounters, and other adventures may be booked. The Safari Village is open to
the public at no charge. Contact Guest Services at 541.679.6761, ext 203 or
visit www.wildlifesafari.net for
additional information. Wildlife Safari is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization.
Please consider joining us in our mission to support wildlife.
Jacob C Schlueter,
Marketing Director
o: 541.679.6761 ex 231 | c: 701.630.2669
