LIONS AND TIGERS AND A BEAR, OH MY!

THE WONDER AND SACRIFICES BEHIND CATTY SHACK RANCH

Words & photos by Mallory Pace

In the northside depths of Jacksonville, tucked away on a road less traveled by, is home to some of the most exotic and beautiful animals the world has to offer. Each animal was rescued from very serious and dangerous situations from all around the world, but their health, safety and comfort becomes a priority at their new forever home. From lions to tigers to a bear , Catty Shack Ranch Wildlife Sanctuary proudly rescues, heals and protects some of nature’s most beloved wildlife, right in our very backyard.

Catty Shack Ranch director Curt LoGiudice began working with exotic animals in 1982 after spending time training police dogs. Twelve years and two state and federal licenses later, the Florida Panther Project asked LoGiudice to be their representative in Jacksonville for educational presentations about endangered panthers. In 2000, Catty Shack Ranch became a nonprofit organization, which it still functions as today. The core values of Catty Shack Ranch are centered around a no breeding, no selling, no trading and no buying policy to help ensure every animal that is given refuge at the sanctuary will not be jeopardized by irresponsible development.

On the weekends, visitors can watch and gawk as some of the animals are fed dinner — pounds of delicious raw chicken. Watching a tiger crunch down on raw chicken, bones and all, is something you don’t get to see many times in life, if at all. The friendly staff, the learning opportunities and the vast beauty of wildlife to be experienced at Catty Shack is exactly what earned them the No. 1 spot (of 157) on TripAdvisor’s things to do in Jacksonville.

In addition to live feedings, Catty Shack Ranch has been a strong resource in educating people about the plight of these animals in the wild and the importance of maintaining their safety since becoming open to the public in 2004. They give educational tours to schools and summer camps year-round, aiming to educate the next generation on the beauty and significance of wildlife. Stephen Laquintano has been the education coordinator at Catty Shack for about six years, running the field trips and other educational tours.

“Kids can sit in the classroom and learn about it, sure, but here they’ll get closer to a tiger than they’ve ever been in their entire life,” he said. “And that can spark something that can grow in them a bit later.”

“Plus, the kids get to see things that they would never get to see at other places, and the tigers like seeing them, too.”

Each animal the organization takes in finds their forever home at Catty Shack, becoming a permanent part of a family that does anything and everything for that animal’s wellbeing. Laquintano said that once they take an animal in, a commitment is made to take care of it for the rest of its life by receiving the best care Catty Shack can provide.

There are various on-site crews that assist in and provide medical care, daily feedings and other services, but the real bulk of the labor comes from the

volunteers who regularly take care of the animals, Laquintano said. These volunteers provide consistent and intentional care like making enrichment activities, running day-to-day operations, cleaning and prepping food, among other duties. In fact, it wasn’t until 2014 that Catty Shack hired its first paid employees, a telling sign of both their success as a rescue organization and of their dedication to putting their animals first.

The majority of their animals come from places that can’t take care of them anymore, like areas that were hit especially hard by Hurricane Irma, Laquintano explained. Others come from illegal breeding operations, and some were federal confiscations, meaning places that were shut down by the government for not taking care of the animals.

Several of the smaller animals, like foxes, caracals and servals, were rescued from being personal pets, which Laquintano stressed: do not make good house pets.

“Even with house cats,” Laquintano said, “They’ve lived with humans for thousands of years, and they’re not even fully domesticated. So, if you take a serval, whose great, great grandfather was living on an African savanna, you don’t have a domesticated animal.”

LIFE IN CAPTIVITY

There are currently three extinct subspecies of tigers and six living subspecies, including Siberian, which most of Catty Shack’s residents are. In the wild, tigers typically live up to 15 years, but can live up to between 20 and 25 in captivity. According to their website, wild tigers average a large kill about once per week, and in a single night, they can eat as much as 60 pounds of meat if they strike it big. For comparison, the average meal is typically up to 40 pounds.

Catty Shack tigers eat roughly 10-15 pounds of food five to six nights a week and follow the USDA guidelines for feedings according to their body weight. Their diets are made according to their veterinarians’ nutritional requirements to maintain a healthy and balanced lifestyle.

“As few as 3,200 tigers still exist in the wild and populations are at a growing risk due to human encroachment, habitat loss and poaching,” their website states.

“In captivity, there are an estimated 5,000 tigers in the U.S. alone, though only a small portion of that 5,000 exist in zoos or other sanctuaries.”

Lions are the only big cat that prefer to live in social groups or prides, which can be as small as three and as big as 40 animals, and typically consist of related females and one to three males. They can become very affectionate toward their pride mates, showing affection by touching, licking and rubbing each other. Within the pride, the male lion is usually responsible for protection, while the females hunt and care-give.

Lions typically live between 12 to 15 years in the wild but can greatly surpass that in captivity to live until 20 to 25. It is estimated that the population of African lions is around 21,000 — roughly half of what it was in 1950 — and it is considered a vulnerable species. The Asian lion population only has about less than 300 left, making it endangered.

“Habitat destruction and encroachment of humans is a real threat to these animals, along with distemper, which is a disease passed on to them from dogs in nearby villages,” Catty Shack website states. “Hunting of these animals also exists, especially near farming communities.”

But at Catty Shack, these animals tend to exceed their life expectancies, due to the consistent and intentional care they receive. Their on-site veterinarian and medical facility ensures that the animals can receive immediate attention, including surgery and routine checks as needed, as well as providing them with daily medication and vitamins for their individual needs. The proceeds from their next fundraiser will go toward the updated construction of the medical facility.

Not only do the staff and volunteers spend time with the animals and create enrichment activities to promote their mental stimulation, but their diet plays a large role in health levels. A roughly 35-by-48- foot freezer sits on site, containing thousands and thousands of pounds of meat and food products. In just a single night, Catty Shack will go through about 500 pounds of food, so the necessary precautions and preparations need to be taken at all times.

With the consistent help of the staff and volunteers, these animals have a routine feeding, so they never have to worry about going hungry. Some of them don’t even appear all that eager when food is brought around because they’ve learned a new level of food security.

FOREVER HOME RESIDENTS

Currently, Catty Shack is the forever home to two lions, 15 tigers and one bear. Plus a leopard, cougar, caracal, bobcat and coatimundis. Oh, and two servals, two foxes, two horses and an unspecified number of lynxes, pumas, panthers, mountain lions, etc.

There’s a degree of respect and trust to be earned when dealing with these animals, but the more time spent with them, a bond of sorts can form with certain animals. Like Laquintano said, the people at Catty Shack spend every day with the animals, they feed them, clean up after them, and notice when they’re not feeling well. At the same time, that level of respect includes never making direct contact.

“These are wild animals, and they have their own mindsets,” he said. “They’re not gonna run up and want you to scratch them, but that being said, you do form relationships.”

“T HE REASON w E DO IT IS BECAUSE THEY DESERVE I t,” HE SAID “T HEY ’ RE AMA z IN g ANIMALS . wE k NO w EACH OF THEM INDIVIDUALLY AND THEY DESERVE A g OOD LIFE .”

Like with Amara, a 13-year-old Siberian Tiger that arrived at Catty Shack at just a few months old with her litter mate, Misha. The two of them, along with three other cubs from another litter, came from a facility that could no longer support them. Laquintano described Amara’s big personality fondly, explaining that she comes up and greets her people while chuffing (the tiger version of a cat’s purr).

“She’s just a little bit neurotic, which only adds to her personality,” he said. “And who isn’t a little bit neurotic?”

THE PURPOSE BEHIND THE MISSION

Laquintano explained that unlike other animal facilities like zoos and such, Catty Shack isn’t necessarily interested in having any specific, best-looking or most exotic animals. They take all kinds of animals from all kinds of backgrounds and give them the same love, attention, enrichment and care because it’s what they deserve.

Providing the utmost care and love is their priority, which is reflected in their current renovations as they’re getting ready to expand and update some of the animals’ sanctuaries and habitats, like building new enclosures and pools. Their focus right now is on making sure their current animals can enjoy the best life possible.

“The reason we do it is because they deserve it,” Laquintano said. “They’re amazing animals. We know each of them individually, and they deserve a good life.”

Being a volunteer-driven organization isn’t easy, of course. Catty Shack runs and operates solely through donations, admission tickets and special events. The bottom line, Laquintano emphasized, is that the way Catty Shack functions, and the way they progress as a rescue mission is by having people from the community come and be a part of the team simply by showing up to enjoy the animals.

“We have the most friendly and engaging staff. When you come out to visit, you walk up to a volunteer or staff member, get them talking, and they make sure that you have a good time,” Laquintano said. “So come out and visit, engage with the staff and see the animals.”

Catty Shack is located at 1860 Starratt Road, and a scheduled list of events, hours and admission costs can be found on their website cattyshack.org. There you’ll also find other information on education, donations, adoptions and ways to support. The goals and mission behind Catty Shack are unlike any other animal exhibits, so support your local big cats and Jacksonville community by showing up to Catty Shack Ranch Wildlife Sanctuary. Purrr!