|
T.I.G.E.R.S. and the R.S.F.
T.I.G.E.R.S. and the R.S.F. (Rare Species Fund) are based in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and operate four
public education exhibits; Two "Preservation Stations" in Myrtle Beach, SC, "Wild Encounters" located at Jungle
Island in Miami, FL as well as yearly productions in the Boston, MA area of the highly acclaimed show "The Tale
of the Tiger".
At our Preservation Stations, the wildlife ambassadors; the great apes, big cats, elephant and a stunning group
of other highly interactive animal ambassadors, offer our guests a collection of experiences that can be life
changing. While at the preserves, the participants senses are awakened to a whole new world; feeling the
leathery hide of our elephant, the soft touch of a lynx, the sweet smell of a binturong and the heart pounding
sound of tigers running at 55 miles per hour. Our visitors see animals they know and love displaying their
spectacular natural talents and have encounters with new ones they never even knew existed. During these
encounters our guests connect with wildlife in a very intimate way which personally involves them in the lives
of these amazing animals. They then walk away into the world with a desire to save these creatures and help
preserve their environments.
Our guests wondrous experiences live on for a lifetime in the hundreds of individual and group high end
professional photographs and video we take of them on this once in a lifetime journey. They leave Preservation
Station with images that only a few privileged photographers and explorers on safari have captured after years
of travel; a tiger or cheetah running at full speed or swimming across a clear pool, the great apes sliding
through the canopy or a large tusked elephant just a breath away. You can tell from their pictures and the
letters they send us how it has changed them. With us this experience happens every day.
The Rare Species Fund was established to provide funding to critical, on the ground, international wildlife
conservation programs, thereby complimenting the educational messages and field research of T.I.G.E.R.S.. The
Fund receives its financing base through a percentage of revenues taken in by T.I.G.E.R.S., the generosity of
donations from exhibit guests, and the general public. Specific projects where our funding has made a real
difference include:
- We have helped fund the Matabeleland Leopard and Cheetah project in Zimbabwe that uses radio-collars to track
problem animals that had been trans-located. Established GPS locations of animals home range movements are
created for establishing lower hunting quotas.
- The Rare Species Fund supplies funding to the Raptor Research Program of the Endangered Wildlife Trust in
South Africa.
- Our staff works closely with foundations in South Africa preparing captive bred cheetahs
for wildlife education programs. The staff of T.I.G.E.R.S created a cheetah run program establishing a much
more thrilling and unique program for the guests who see the cheetah running at full speed right in front of
their eyes. This up-close uncaged experience gives them a deeper appreciation and better understanding of
the real beauty, power and grace of the amazing cheetah. It is hoped this lure chasing program along with
other unique projects will start the cheetah on the long road back to eventual release into the wild.
- We hand delivered seven tigers and oversaw the creation of their habitat in the Samutprakam Wildlife Park in
Thailand. This group of trained and uniquely colored tigers is the first of its kind to be established
anywhere in Asia. These tigers are used to draw attention to issues of international conservation while
stressing the importance of saving wild tigers in a part of the world where tigers still live naturally but
are highly endangered.
- A National Geographic research team used our trained animal ambassadors to learn how to fit grizzly bears
and lions with video collars so that, for the very first time, research could be carried out from the
animals point of view on its routines.
- The fund supports Thailand's Khao Yai project by providing in-country teams with the means to purchase
equipment and learn Anti-Poaching techniques. The project focuses on training and capacity-building efforts
with The Carnivore Conservation Project in Northern Thailand to secure the population of wild tigers in the
Khao Yai National Park.
- Jaguars from T.I.G.E.R.S were used as key characters in the film "Jaguar, Year of the Cat" made by "Nature"
for international broadcast. This program included the only film clips in the world of a mother Jag and her
cubs in a wild setting. This was made possible due to the great relationship the female and her cubs had
with Doc Antle and the staff of T.I.G.E.R.S.. Images of wild jaguars seemed almost impossible to get at this
time and only by using the trained wildlife of T.I.G.E.R.S. was it possible to make such a landmark
documentary and bring the magnificent jaguar to millions of people around the world.
- The RSF has invested in the planting of trees to replenish the rainforest located in Central Indonesian Borneo as part of the Orangutan
Forestry Restoration Program.
- T.I.G.E.R.S. helped The Smithsonian Institute to take battery operated televisions into the South American
rainforest to show remote villages and rural populations a short film of the beauty of jaguars and other
South American mega fauna. This film was part of a widely heralded project to enlighten the native people
about this magnificent cat. Due to habitat destruction, millions of children and adults who inhabit this
region will never see these animals in the wild. The film was shot using Inca, an adult male jaguar raised
at T.I.G.E.R.S.. He has such a close bond with his trainers that he was allowed to swim and play freely
along rivers in South Carolina for the production of this beautiful film.
Please join us in our worldwide education and conservation efforts at www.Tigerfriends.com.
|