Dobbins and Apollo Are Finally At The Austin Zoo!

Today I saw a brief posting on the Austin Zoo's Facebook page that Dobbins lives at their facility now!  So I contacted the Austin Zoo to see if I could obtain recent photos of the boy!

From: Patti Clark
Sent: Thu, September 29, 2011 5:03:31 PM
Subject: Re: Inquiry - Dobbins and Apollo!

Kristina, Dobbins and Apollo have only been here about 12 days, but they have settled in beautifully. Dobbins is very thin, but he is eating his entire meal every day. Apollo is a very big boy! I got a report that both of them were in their three-tier swimming pool today having a good time. I know that some of our staff have taken photos, but I have not received any copies of those yet.

My assistant has a couple of photos taken in their den on night rounds, but they aren't very good quality. I'll see what we can round up to share with you.

Best regards,

Patti
Austin Zoo & Animal Sanctuary

My response:

To: Patti Clark
Sent: Thu, Sep 29, 2011 5:15 pm
Subject: Re: Inquiry - Dobbins and Apollo!

Bless Dobbins' heart -- I had heard we was very thin, hence my concern for him. Apollo was the largest tiger at the Leslie Road facility and he is such a sweetheart! I am so glad they have a pool to play in -- both were not lucky enough to enjoy a pool at the WAO -- the best I could do for them was to give them a "hose" bath. Both would come running when I turned on the hose and would lay right in front of the enclosure. They just loved the feel of water running over their bodies!

I can't wait to see the pictures! I plan to visit Austin later in the year to see the boys -- I hope they still remember me!

I pray Dobbins puts on weight soon, before it gets cold. Some of the former older WAO big cats came up Vitamin A deficient. This caused the cats to lose a lot of weigh, wobble on their feet, unable to walk or run without falling down. If you happen to see these signs in Dobbins, and have not tested his blood for vitamin A deficiencies, may I recommend Dobbins receive a blood test to rule out this problem?

In any case, I am thrilled he and Apollo are at Austin Zoo -- I imagine the two tigers are receiving a lot of love and attention as they are such love bugs!

Again, thank you for letting me know they are okay and I look forward to seeing some pictures soon!

Kindest Regards,

Kris

Patti's response to my email:

From: Patti Clark pattiaustinzoo@aol.com

Sent: Mon, October 3, 2011 5:18:15 PM
Subject: Re: Inquiry - Dobbins and Apollo!

Kristina, we had heard about the Vitamin A deficiency issue from the WAO staff and vet. Dobbins seems to be gaining a little weight already!

Dobbins loves to get in his new swimming pool and hang over edge watching people! I'll attach photos to my next email to you.

Best regards,
Patti
Austin Zoo & Animal Sanctuary

Now that's interesting -- WAO admitted the animals were vitamin A deficient and yet they did nothing to treat the animals prior to their departures?  Shocking!

Apollo arrives at the Austin Zoo

Dobbins in his WAO roll cage preparing to enter his new
den here at Austin Zoo & Animal Sanctuary

Breaks my heart to see Dobbins so thin.  When I left the WAO again on May 1, 2010, he looked so much better.  What a difference a little over one year made for this tiger.  Good news is that during the cold weather, Dobbins will be warm in his den as the Austin Zoo uses gas heaters in all of their big cat dens. 

I can't wait to see the boys again at the end of this month!

Update:

I found this picture of the boys on Facebook:



Austin Zoo & Animal Sanctuary
Here are the two tigers who arrived in September: Dobbins and Apollo. They are best friends:)