Great Cats World Park

Jill's Journal: Apparently the girls had not had their fill of wildlife this past week. They desperately wanted to add Great Cats World Park near Cave Junction to our list of things to see. After the incredible wildlife experiences we’d already had here in Oregon, I felt there couldn’t possibly be a third place half as remarkable as the first two. But the girls, particularly Erika, don’t usually campaign so strongly for a place and I figured since we seem to be in a major wildlife area, one more couldn’t hurt. When in Rome… And even though Great Cats did look pretty campy from the outside, it turns out appearances can be deceiving.

Tigers can stand eight (or more) feet tall!

I wrongly assumed Great Cats was simply a big cat zoo. It was a zillion times better. We were taken on what was essentially a personal tour to each cat enclosure and our fantastic guide, Farah, educated us about each cat and showed us their conditioned behaviors (while rewarding them with meat). We got to see lions attack, hear tigers chuffle (a show of affection), and watch and hear leopards snarl, all while standing literally three feet from them. It was amazing. Erika in particular was spellbound and had a million questions. Farah was so generous – she took a huge amount of time with us, patiently answered each question, and called Erika a “future valedictorian.” Erika has no idea what that means, but I got a kick out of it. Farah even encouraged Erika to email her with any future questions – she was awesome.

Two Jaguars!

The big cats at Great Cats are working cats. Several are in breeding programs and many are “models.” Over 50% of all big cat photography, including National Geographic, and big cat film work in the U.S. uses cats from here. The majority of the felines here have been hand-raised, so they are amicable and responsive to their handlers although they are still wild animals and most certainly cannot be trusted.

The beautiful Amur Leopard, a critically endangered creature that will likely be extinct in the wild by next year. There are believed to be less than 20 left in the wild and less than 200 in captivity around the world. Great Cats has four Amur Leopards and believes at least one of the females is pregnant, something they are understandably giddy about.

This guy was probably my favorite, as he had a lot of personality. He’s a Black Leopard. In the sunlight, you can clearly see his spots (officially called rosettes in the big cat world).

Have you ever heard of an African Serval? This unusual-looking guy actually turned out to be the girls’ favorite of all the cats. He is said to have the ears of a fox, the body of a cheetah, the legs of a deer, the tail of a raccoon, and the coat of a leopard.

Bengal Tiger

Is there any wild creature more noble-looking than the lion?

In all, we saw about 15 different species of big cats and learned the purring kind (like a cougar) is the type a human can stare down and scare away when encountering it in the wild. It’s the roaring kind (like a tiger) that you wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley. All cats either purr or roar and the difference is a single bone in their throat. We were fortunate to hear two lions roar (a behavior that cannot be trained on cue unlike a "snarl") during our time at Great Cats. The true roar is a vicious sound that carries for 10 miles over the plains.

A White Tiger, which is simply a subspecies of the Bengal Tiger due to a recessive gene. They are rare in the wild, but popular in captivity and have an extremely limited gene pool. Of the nine known tiger species, three are already extinct and the other six are extemely endangered. Tigers breed well in captivity and it is believed will eventually be only found in captivity. Bengals, the most well-known of the tigers, will likely be extinct in the wild in the next 30 years and possibly sooner.

Another interesting tidbit…leopards are the most dangerous to humans as they can and do (in some areas of the world) specifically hunt humans. They are also considered the smartest cats as they can walk into a village and memorize every escape route. They patiently stalk their prey, watching and learning their habits (i.e. when the humans go to bed) for a few days so they can silently strike when their prey is the most vulnerable. YIKES.

A female lion showing Farah how tough she can be...I'm a believer!

Great Cats strives to educate the public about conservation and protection of these magnificent creatures…their feline ambassadors (and Farah) did just that for us today.