Cat heaven at the cat haven
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Photo provided by
Michelle Lennox
Kong is one of two Bengal
Tigers found at the cat haven. Bengal Tigers were heavily hunted
in the past for sport and their skins. |
By Jennifer Palmberg
The Collegian
Most Fresno State students don’t
realize that they live within an hour drive of a cat haven that is home
to 22 rare and endangered cats found around the world.
The Sierra Endangered Cat Haven, located on the edge of the Sequoia National
Forest just west of King’s Canyon National Park, provides a place
for large- cat lovers to work at preserving wild cats. The haven is home
to 22 cats from 10 different species including some species not commonly
found on display like the Clouded Leopard and species not commonly found
anywhere like the Amur Leopard,of which there are only 30 to 40 left in
the world.
The cat haven is paired with Project Survival, a non-profit organization
that works to conserve these animals world wide and educate people young
and old about the rare animals through public and school presentations.
“It costs a lot of money to fund research teams around the world,”
said cat haven founder and owner Dale Anderson. “Since we are non-profit
we rely on money generated from the cat haven and fundraiser donations
from the public to fund our research and facility.”
Anderson hosts two annual fundraising events at the cat haven called the
Twilight Tour to generate revenue for the facility. One of those events
is being held on Oct. 1, 2005. Tickets for the event must be purchased
before Sept. 24 at $35 each. The event includes dinner and a trip through
the haven to see the endangered animals.
“The events are held in the evening because that is when the cats,
who are naturally nocturnal, are most active,” Anderson said. “The
haven is 100 acres with enclosures for the animals so they’re not
just running wild. The tour is a quarter of a mile and takes about an
hour.”
Anderson said because a part
of his organization is non-profit he relies heavily on the public’s
donations and his volunteer workers to keep the place operating. Michelle
Lennox and Laura Miller, Fresno State students, are two of his volunteers
earning their internship.
“I saw it when I was driving up to the Sequoias,” Lennox,
a dual major in animal science and biology, said. “I have always
wanted to work with and exotic and endangered animals.”
Lennox said she has worked as both a keeper, who feeds and cares for the
animals and a docent, who leads the tours, works the educational aspect
of the haven and helps keep the enclosed animals mentally healthy so they
don’t develop any abnormal behaviors as some caged animals can.
“We’re not like a zoo,” Lennox said. “We don’t
just put them in an enclosure and see them only at feeding time. We interact
with them every day.”
Lennox said the volunteers at the haven put different scents and toys
in enclosures to get the cats to stick with their normal territorial and
playful activities. She said that some of the enclosures are equipped
with ponds and workers will put fish in the ponds so the cats can play
with them and eat them at will.
“Some of our cats are very friendly,” Lennox said. “Our
bobcat is like a Teddy bear and he will jump on your shoulders and drool
in your hair. And one of our Caracals, Jasiri, was a guest on The Tonight
Show with Jay Leno a little while back.”
Both Lennox and Anderson said they are hoping to get Fresno State students
involved, whether they come to the Twilight Tour or just come and take
the tour on any regular business day. For more information about the facility,
the event tickets or the animals, visit www.cathaven.com or call 559-338-3216.
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