A NOTE FROM OUR PARK DIRECTOR

We hope you all had a good holiday! Sorry we missed sending out a Christmas issue, but our PR Director was ill and money was tight as well. We passed on mailing out cards because of cost, but we had you all in mind during the season. Lets just start with Happy New Year!

Another year has slipped away and we have made new friends while traveling to exciting places to meet you all. Thanks to your big hearts and helping hands we rescued 37 animals this year! Every one of them holds a special place in our hearts, from the huge African lions that we rescued to the tiny skunks you brought to us. God only knows where these animals would be right now had it not been for you. The spirits are definitely with us here at the park, helping us watch over his creatures. 

Winter is a tough time for us, and its wet and cold for the animals, but we are dedicated to our mission and we will continue to open our gates to animals in need. Be sure to check our summer schedule posted online at www.gwpark.org, and if you get the opportunity, please stop in to see us! Thanks for your support and keep spreading the word.

God Bless,

NEW PARK RESIDENTS

Rescue efforts are ongoing, and we have a few new residents to introduce to you. Another local park continues to funnel animals to us because of cost of care issues. Cheyenne, an Indo-Bengal tiger cub, arrived with a fungal infection in one ear and she required surgery immediately. She has a gentle disposition and otherwise appears to be healthy. Cheyenne gets along well with Dylan, an African lion from Sapulpa. We would like to house them together in a compound that would cost $3,700. 

Sweet Pea is a new Siberian tiger in need of a compound. She is also from another local park. Princess Carmen is a calico tiger. She came from Summerville, Texas, and needs to be housed alone since she arrived “intact”, with all her claws.

Joe is constantly doing the “animal shuffle” to accommodate new arrivals. “We have learned a lot about who gets along with whom and who doesn’t. It’s a balancing act that we face everyday,” he explains. Moving animals can be dangerous, to both handlers and to the animals. Ideally, new arrivals would have dens waiting for them, but that’s hard to accomplish when the need for rescue is so overwhelming. 

We still have three mountain lions in holding that need sponsors. “We can’t move these animals out unless we have a place to put them.” Please see our list of animals in need of sponsors if you can help.

THE WINTER BLUES HAVE SET IN 

We cannot stress enough how badly we need donations during the winter months. Park visitors are few in the cold months, and park events and fundraisers are all on hold until summer. The animals still need to eat, and they need fresh straw to keep warm. If we don’t receive donations, we have to turn to credit to feed the animals and we start the summer months behind on bills. 

For meat, we rely on local farmers to call us when they have cattle down. We have to hurry to go pick up these cows and butcher them immediately here for food (regulations dictate what we can take and what we can’t). Whatever we don’t have on hand for meat, we have to buy. If you have extra deer meat in the freezer, or perhaps an extra pig we could use, please give us a call. Donations to the feed account are always needed. Please don’t forget us this winter!

We are pleased to announce a newly formed subsidiary of the G.W. Exotic Animal Park – the Awakening Rescue team. Our mission has expanded to include human rescue as well as those of the furry kind.

Team members are trained in rescue and emergency first aid. “So we are now a total service rescue team… animal rescue, cruelty investigations, and human rescue all rolled into one very talented group,” explains Schreibvogel. “We want to do what we can for our community and use our skills in a way that will benefit us all,” he added.

Garvin County passed a resolution on November 12th supporting the park’s application for two grants to help outfit the rescue team with equipment and supplies. The county feels that Awakening Rescue will provide a much-needed service to the community. The grants are offered to cover all types of rescue missions, including land, water, human and animal. “We are very excited about this opportunity for the park,” said Schreibvogel. We will keep you posted on any developments!

MEDICAL FACILITY UNDERWAY

We are in the process of putting together an on-site medical facility at the park. This building would provide a place for sick animals to be treated and for medical supplies to be stored. If you would like to help us with this project, we would appreciate donations toward construction and medical equipment. Please see our insert section.