More Info on Amarillo Zoo's New Tigers - Sabrina and Savannah

 http://www.amarillomagonline.com/article/347

Zoo Welcomes Bengals
Posted March 18, 2011 5:14 p.m.
by Drew Belle Zerby


Amarillo Zoo presents two tigers, renovated exhibit

As Sabrina emerged from her house and entered her habitat, she didn’t seem to notice the surrounding crowd and flashing cameras. She didn’t seem to notice that her lifelong companion, Savannah, stayed behind, either.


A year-a-half after Amarillo’s resident Bengal tiger, Holly, passed away, the Amarillo Zoo welcomed two six-year-old Bengal beauties to the community as well as a renovated exhibit March 11.

“We knew once we lost Holly we wanted to bring tigers back,” says Rhonda Votino, zoo curator. “The plan was we wanted to enlarge the exhibit. The exhibit now is at least double, maybe almost triple the size of what we had before. We had the opportunity to get two tigers and that’s what we’ve gone with. We’re just happy to have tigers back on.”

Sabrina and Savannah arrived in January from the Wild Animal Orphanage, a rescue facility in San Antonio forced to close as a result of overpopulation. The duo, which was born and brought up together at the secluded sanctuary, have never been exposed to crowds, but Rhonda is confident they will adapt to their new environment quickly.

“I think they’ll be fine,” Rhonda assures. “Once they get used to it, I’m hoping they’ll take advantage of their sleeping platform and come out and sun themselves. Tigers really love water so I’m really hoping they’ll take to the pool. We’ll come up with all sorts of activities to keep them entertained and active.”


While Sabrina took to her home well, her hesitant other half decided to postpone her premiere, which didn’t surprise Rhonda one bit.


“Savannah is a lot more apprehensive,” Rhonda explains. “It may take her even a couple days before she shows her face. I keep seeing Sabrina going back into the tunnel like ‘It’s OK. We can go out.’ But Savannah’s not having any of it,’” she chuckles. “Sabrina is definitely the more people-oriented. I kind of figured she’d be the first one to come out.”


But Savannah has no problem showing her stripes when it’s feeding time. The aggressive cats must be separated during their daily, evening meal. Five days out of the week, the two eat 7-8 pounds of commercially-prepared meat which contains vitamins and minerals specifically designated for exotic cats. The other two days, they either feed on rabbits or fast.


“In the wild they wouldn’t necessarily eat every day,” Rhonda says. “These guys would take down a kill, feed off of it and it might be another week or so before they feed again. In captivity, you kind of simulate that same type of behavior.”


While the cats are aggressive animals, they can still be quite playful. When the crew leaves empty boxes in the tigers’ home, they go to town. Sometimes Rhonda adds different scents to the boxes or even includes an edible treat inside.


“Just about anything they’ll make a toy out of it. If I’m not careful, when I’m hosing the building, they’ll try to grab my hose, Rhonda exclaims.”


Rhonda, who worked at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans before moving to Amarillo six years ago, is hopeful Sabrina and Savannah will attract larger crowds to the Zoo.


“Tigers are very popular. I think they’ll be a big draw,” Rhonda says. “When we had the single tiger, people loved her. They always came to see Holly. There are certain species when people come to a zoo they want to see and with cats it’s always the lions and tigers. Everybody loves the lions and tigers. I think people will really enjoy seeing the cats. The zoo has a lot of potential,” she continues. “It’s a small zoo, but there’s just a lot that can be done here. We’re always very excited we can add new exhibits like this for the community.”


In addition to the tiger exhibit, the is reopening the leopard exhibit, which will house the black leopard, Maverick, who also came from the Wild Animal Orphanage. An education center is also in the works.


“We know an education center would be a great addition,” Rhonda says, “especially for all the school groups that come here. Right now we can do programs but it’s really weather-dependent. We have no inside place to do classroom stuff. We’ll be very excited to get an education center.”

For more information on the Amarillo Zoo, visit amarillozoo.org