Sanctuary News
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HURRICANE IKE SURVIVOR
IS RESCUED BY IEAS!
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Many of you may have heard the story about the man in Crystal Beach, TX who took shelter in a church with his pet lion during Hurricane Ike. Michael Ray Kujawa ran what Crystal Beach visitors called a make-shift home zoo that had housed goats, an emu, and big cats. Evidently, this man waited too long to evacuate Crystal Beach as Hurricane Ike tore through the area. As he attempted to drive to safety, he was trapped by rising waters. In the back of his vehicle was Shackles, an 11 year old lioness. Sympathetic people who had taken shelter at the First Baptist Church in Crystal Beach gave sanctuary to the man and the lion he described as his pet.What many people don’t know is that there was another big cat who had been left abandoned at the man’s make-shift zoo. Back at his home, a 400-pound tiger was left in a locked enclosure, with nowhere to go and no choice but to attempt to ride out the storm. Amazingly, this tiger survived.
TWO NEW RESIDENTS CALL IEAS HOME
Two new residents can now call IEAS home. Back in August, a serval and a caracal were abandoned on the doorstep a wildlife rehabilitation center in New Mexico. Staff members of the center contacted IEAS to see if we would be able to take the animals. They arrived in late August and are currently being housed in our Quarantine facility. They will soon move to their permanent home where they will have grass, trees for shade, misters to keep them cool, perches to lay on, and a house for shelter.
The IEAS Board of Directors have decided on names for these two magnificent animals. We would like to honor two of our most dedicated volunteers by naming these cats after them. The caracal’s name is now Billy. Billy O’Brien has been a volunteer at IEAS for the last five years. Billy’s hard work and dedication to the animals of IEAS are so greatly appreciated. Billy is always willing to help with whatever we may be doing at the sanctuary. On one day you may find him leading our conservation education tours or spending time with our adoptive parents as they visit with animals. On another day you will find him involved in many of the activities that occur at the Sanctuary, including painting, welding, building caves or pools, mowing, and weedeating. The serval’s name is now Barbara. Barbara Tinsley has been a volunteer at IEAS since 1998. Barbara devotes much of her time to all of the landscaping throughout the facility. Barbara keeps IEAS looking beautiful with all of the flowers and other plant life that she attends to. She takes care of many of the vines at the Sanctuary to ensure that the animals always have access to shade. Barbara is also one of the Sanctuary’s photographers. She takes pictures of the animals at the Sanctuary that can be used for our website or can be sold in our gift shop. Thank you, Billy and Barbara, for all of your hard work and dedication to the animals of IEAS!
About Us
WHO WE ARE
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International Exotic Animal Sanctuary, Inc. (
IEAS) was founded in Boyd, Texas in 1988 as a 501(c)(3), nonprofit tax-exempt corporation. IEAS's current mission is the care and welfare of its animal inhabitants, as well as educating the public about their needs. The inhabitants include bobcats, cougars, jaguars, leopards, lions, tigers and bears among other species. As of April 2007, sixty-one felines call IEAS home, with spacious habitats, pools and houses. The employees and volunteers who care for the animals give of their time and talents to ensure the quality of life to which they are entitled. What we do
Our Mission: The purpose and goals of IEAS are to provide a permanent sanctuary for exotic animals that have been abused, abandoned, neglected, confiscated, or previously owned by people unwilling or unable to provide for these magnificent beings. Additionally, IEAS educates the public through school programs, tour lectures,support for conservation programs, and public appearances about the value and worth of these sensitive, intelligent and perceptive animals, so that their future, as an important part of our world, is insured. We are committed to strengthening and promoting conservation education and other avenues to foster conservation in which we can participate.WHY DO WE EXIST
It is a fundamental question that one can ask:
why is there a need for a sanctuary for abandoned, abused and/or confiscated exotic animals? Well in recent times one can find the answer weekly just by watching TV or reading the newspaper on occasion. It seems that there is a proliferation of incidents involving exotic animals all across the country, whether one reads about the 24 big cats confiscated in New Jersey, the tiger kept in an apartment in New York, or the incident in Arizona where a keeper was mauled and seriously injured by a tiger while she was cleaning the compound. The story that stands alone for horror, is the case where dozens of big cats were confiscated in Southern California in unbelievably terrible condition, and authorities found a number of dead cats littering the buildings located at the same facility. Click here to read more: Why Do We Exist?HOW WE DO IT
Of course, we give the animals the very best food that is appropriate for their needs, mixed with minerals and vitamins that are necessary for them to have a well-balanced diet that satisfies all their nutritional needs. We also give the animals very large habitats with a variety of elements that take into account their species-appropriate utilization of space, such as ramps, swimming pools for all tigers and jaguars, trees, perches, climbing poles, and a variety of enrichment items. In addition, we satisfy the animals' emotional needs with a unique program we call "Emotional Enrichment" . Exotic animals are as individual as humans. Sure, there are some generalizations that can be made about a specific species, but there are many more distinctions from one individual to another within that species. So, we work with each individual according to its personality and emotional needs. In general, we have our staff and volunteers treat each animal with the respect and dignity that would be accorded another human. Care is taken not to agitate, irritate, or unduly excite any animal. Our Animal Behaviorist physically interacts with a large number of the large cats. Some of them have never had direct contact with a human. Most of the cats that have had direct contact previously considered it adversarial, as training methods of domination/control were apparently used. We find that most of the cats respond surprisingly well to our method of utilizing only affection, trust, and respect in direct interaction. They obviously enjoy and want positive emotional interaction. We want to caution the reader that without extensive experience, this approach could potentially be very dangerous, and we do not advocate it for anyone that has not had a great deal of experience and training. Read more...
