The animals have all of our friends to thank for the opportunity to live their lives in peaceful sanctuary.

We would like to thank you for your ongoing support and wish you a wonderful holiday season surrounded by those you love.

Please check back for more photos and videos as we compile them – all of the animals enjoyed their Christmas presents!

The tigers, rescued a few months ago from a cub-petting operation in Colorado are taking turns romping in their spacious wooded habitat and jumping in the pool to cool off.

The next phase of construction for their habitat is to build an in-ground concrete pool with rocks to climb on. Still looking for a pool company to help out. Do you know anyone?

The article is called “On the Wild Side” and can be read online or in their April issue at Ocala area businesses.

The article focuses on three animal facilities in Marion County – read all the way to the end to see what she says about Forest Animal Rescue.

Thank you JoAnn Guidry for writing such a nice article!

Happy Valentine’s Day from everyone at Forest Animal Rescue.

Remember not to eat the roses today.

Will you help us to buy toys for them?

Juanita already showed us how much she enjoys the ball we gave her, but it has seen better days and she doesn’t like to share…

We need six new toys for six new animals – they are made of special material to ensure they are safe and will provide many years of enjoyment and rough handling.

The new tigers and bears behaved as if this is the first time they had seen enrichment like this- they were a real joy to watch. Since they never had access to live trees in Colorado, some of them were more interested in the Christmas trees than their gifts!

All of the animals had fresh Christmas trees to play with, the primates had stockings, the carnivores had gift-wrapped presents and everyone had a blast!

Forest Animal Rescue joined Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge and Tigers in America along with 15 other accredited animal sanctuaries to rescue 110 wild animals, mostly tigers and bears, from a facility in Colorado.

The animals were formerly used as cubs for petting and photo opportunities and then, when they grew too big, they were used as breeders. The facility was offered for sale due to the failing health of the owner and now all of the animals are all going to forever homes at sanctuaries across the country. Happily ever after…

Four tigers, Eva, Natasha, Juanita and Zoey, and two bears, Cody and Oatmeal have arrived at our sanctuary just in time for Christmas! Stay tuned next week to see how all of these animals react to their Christmas gifts.

They will spend their first few weeks in quarantine to ensure that they are healthy before then can be introduced to friends of their own kind at the sanctuary, but they are already enjoying their new diggs.

The tigers

Juanita had been exploring everything, playing with the ball and immediately jumping in the pool. Eva and Natasha share a habitat with Juanita and were a bit more cautious but they took turns jumping out of one pool and running over to jump into the other, back and forth – exploring all of the new scents and textures.

The trio had never experienced live trees in their habitats and they are trying to figure out exactly how those work. It has been a lot of fun to watch.

The fourth tiger, Zoey, is older than the other three so she had her own space. She has already discovered the very top of her platform and den box and enjoys lying on top, surveying her surroundings.

Once the tigers have been examined and observed long enough to ensure their good health and we have had time to complete more construction, the three girls will be introduced to our (neutered) male tiger, Roy in a new 1.25 acre habitat. Zoey will then meet Tony (our other neutered male tiger) in his 1 acre habitat.

The bears

The two black bears, Cody and Oatmeal (named by her sponsor) share a quarantine area that is attached to our existing 4-acre bear habitat. Once they are observed for a sufficient length of time and examined by our veterinarian, they will join our other three black bears with plenty of space to get to know one another. Of course we do not allow any of the animals at the sanctuary to breed, so the male bears have already been neutered.

These bears have also never known live trees and have not had a pool to play in for a very long time. They think that oak branches are amazing and the pool is the most awesome thing in the world to splash in!

Before:

After, at Forest Animal Rescue:

Would you like to help us build their permanent habitats and provide them with a safe forever home?

Donate now to join in their care or volunteer to build with us!

Please join us in backing their project – Starting today, backers of the game can leave name suggestions in the main comment section of their Kickstarter Page. Tomorrow, we’ll announce your top three most suggested names along with one suggestion from the Bears vs Babies team.

Name Suggestion Period

Tuesday, November 15th, RIGHT NOW – Wednesday, November 16th, 3pm PST

Name Voting Period

Wednesday, November 16th, 3pm PST – Thursday, November 17th, 11am PST

Campaign Countdown Livestream

Your winning name will be announced during thier CAMPAIGN COUNTDOWN LIVESTREAM on Thursday, November 17th, 4pm PST (you can tune in on the Kickstarter Page)

Notes: We reserve the right to override any names we deem inappropriate. Bears vs Babies is supporting Forest Animal Rescue from our their personal accounts and no money from the Kickstarter campaign is being donated. We hope you’ll join them in supporting the sanctuary. Donate Now