2007: THE YEAR IN REVIEW!

Kids Making a Difference

KMAD Vice-President, Matt, organized a bleach drive for IEAS. With recruited help from other KMAD members, he collected 73 gallons of bleach and $100 in donations. We would like to thank Matt and all of the other KMAD members who participated in the bleach drive! Bleach is one product that we use here at the Sanctuary everyday. We use it to clean throughout the habitats and pools, and to sanitize all of the animals' pans and our tools. Oh by the way, Matt....please tell us the next time that some of that bleach you all got for us was a gel that generated mounds and mounds of bubbles! The animals at the IEAS absolutely loved it....but only because it drove the keepers bonkers! Click here to see the video of the bleach mishap in Bill's pool!

KMAD Return to IEAS with Pumpkins

In November 2007, KMAD returned to make another contribution to the Sanctuary. Members of KMAD had solicited a local Wal-mart to donate extra pumpkins leftover from Halloween. They showed up at IEAS with over 60 pumpkins! That was more than enough to give one to each of the animals here at IEAS! All of the animals LOVE pumpkins! It is one of their favorite enrichment items!

UNT Athletes Support IEAS

The Spring track team of the University of North Texas visited the Sanctuary to donate their time and talents for a day. One task we can always look forward to each year at IEAS: raking leaves! The athletes helped the staff with our raking all day. In one day we were able to complete about a weekÕs worth of rakingÉthanks to the help of the UNT track team. Thank you to all who participated and we hope to see you again soon in the future!

How would you like to be a volunteer at the Sanctuary? Click here to find out more information!

Certificate of Merit for Zookeeper Education

The American Association of Zookeepers, Inc. (AAZK) has honored the International Exotic Animal Sanctuary with the Certificate of Merit for Zookeeper Education (CMZE). The CMZE was founded by Jeff Roberts, 1976-1978, to compliment the work of the AAZK Education Committee that had formed at that time. The purpose of the award is to recognize individuals, institutions and organizations in the zoological community most actively promoting educational programs for zookeepers. The Intern Program was founded in 2002. Since then, we have become one of the country's leading facilities for internships working with exotic animals. We would like to thank the AAZK for this prestigious award.

Bears Come to the Sanctuary!

As most of you probably know, IEAS began rescuing bears in addition to exotic felines in July 2007! Currently the Sanctuary has three black bears and four grizzly bears. For all those who have not had the chance to come and see these amazing animals, we hope to see you in the coming year! Don't miss out on watching these playful and destructive little guys in action!

JANUARY BIRTHDAYS

George, Wendy, Willie & Papa Bear

Grizzly Bears
Born January 6, 2006
Arrived July 11, 2007

The four grizzly bears will turn 2 years old this year. They were 16 months old when they arrived at IEAS. They were born at a facility that had an older pair of grizzly bears they didn't think were capable of breeding. The birth of these cubs caused a problem in that the facility didn't have the habitat in which to properly keep the cubs or the financing to build such a habitat. Click here to see more great pictures and videos of these playful youngsters in action!

Dakar & Meyote

American Black Bears
Born January 21, 2006
Arrived August 27, 2007

Dakar and Meyote will be one year old this month! These two orphans were just 8 months old when they arrived at the Sanctuary. Their mother had been shot by a Wyoming Game Warden after she had wandered into a residential area, threatening human life. We are so happy to be able to provide these two special animals with the quality of life that they so deserve. Our Animal Behaviorist has been working with these two bears to help them make the transition between life in the wild and that in captivity. They have settled in very nicely and are enjoying their new life here at IEAS!

Shauna

Female Lion
Born January 22, 1993
Arrived September 1994

Shauna will be 15 years old this month! You wouldn't think this as her age doesn't show one bit! Every morning Shauna likes to play soccer with her favorite green boomer ball while she waits for breakfast to be served. You can watch Shauna playing soccer too! Just visit her page to see the video!

Kuru

Male Lion
Born January 24, 1996
Arrived May 1, 1996

Kuru will be 12 years old this month! When you visit the Sanctuary, you will usually find Kuru lying close by to his female companion, Nala. Nala and Kuru are best buds and are never found too far apart from one another. You can learn more about Kuru here!