Turpintine Creek Big Cat Sanctuary, Arkansas

Finally finishing going through my Arkansas pictures (and now starting Michigan).

We stopped at a big cat sanctuary that my sister went to last year. The pictures came out so-so. What's the best way to shoot an animals behind wire mesh?

Most of their cats came from either breeders or private owners. My ridiculous fact of the day-- only 14 states have laws restricting the ownership of large cats. In the majority of states, you don't even need to be licensed to own them. The only regulations is the same animal cruelty laws that apply to dogs and cats.

The white tiger in the third picture has a pug faced deformity because of inbreeding. His parents were brother and sister (they're also at the sanctuary), because the white tigers are worth more the breeders often breed two white siblings since it increases the chance of getting white offspring. It also increases the chance for deformities. There was a brother of his there as well that was cross eyed.

Hey Cara,

I love the third one! And I definitely feel your pain on shooting things through wire fences!

On the positive side, as long as I live in one of those 36 states that allow you to own big cats, it looks like my childhood dream could actually come true some day :D

Thanks for posting!

Rick

I love that last shot of the mountain lion. Since I live in CA, I've had the pleasure of seeing 3 so far while out mountain biking in the past 2 years. All the big cats are beautiful animals.