Another California cat place

Arizona Docent

Arizona Docent

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
Here is yet another big cat facility in southern California that I just found out about. I can't believe I never heard of it before. This one is near Palm Springs. Please note that you must write to reserve their three hour tour as they do not appear to have regular public visitor hours.

The Magic Jungle Inc. - Home
 
Arizona Docent said:
Here is yet another big cat facility in southern California that I just found out about. I can't believe I never heard of it before. This one is near Palm Springs. Please note that you must write to reserve their three hour tour as they do not appear to have regular public visitor hours.

The Magic Jungle Inc. - Home
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@Arizona Docent: how do you tell the "good guys" from the "bad guys" in terms of these private cat breeding facilities? I've seen enough horror stories of mismanaged places that I am always very apprehensive of any place that is not AZA accredited. Some places like Tippi Hendren's Shambala preserve and the Wildlife Waystation seem like they are on the level, but how do you tell with a place like this? Looking at the photos I see people leading cats around on chains and playing with them like they are pets...this is normally a red flag to me that these are not serious conservation and/or rescue operations, but is there a way to really know?
 
I am highly skeptical of any facility that is not AZA-accredited, but I do understand that many establishments deliberately choose to avoid accreditation for a variety of reasons. Also, many "sanctuaries" are either against breeding or the transferring of animals between institutions but in all cases the enclosures are usually as basic as possible. Cat Tales Zoological Park in Spokane, Washington, recently had some photos uploaded from "Ituri's" visit and it seems remarkably similar to the handful of cat rescue centers found in California. Chainlink fencing and close contact with the cats seems to be a halllmark of many of these facilities, and I'd guess that there is also a constant struggle for funds as well to maintain the "sanctuaries". I sound pessimistic but I think that I have good reason to be based on the number of subpar, homegrown animal facilities scattered around the United States.
 
They train their cats for use in film and wildlife modeling, most are apparently leash trained, hence the chains. I have no firsthand knowledge of this place, I just found out about it from an article in the latest journal of the Feline Conservation Federation (which supports responsible private ownership and breeding). But you can usually get a good feel for a place from the photos on the website, especially if they have photos that show the enclosures. Based on what I have seen on their site, seems like a good place to me. I think the training and interaction are actually good for the cats. (I know of at least two studies conducted in AZA facilities that back this up).

The fact that the cats are trained (not sure if they breed or not) means it is not a sanctuary in the sense of being strictly a rescue shelter, which is how the term sanctuary is often used. Still seems to be a good place, just defining "sanctuary" a little differently.

As for Shambala and Wildlife Waystation, the former is quite good (except that the director is somewhat anti-zoo) while the latter has had a long series of problems and USDA violations.

As for SnowLeopard's infatuation with the AZA, you need to get over it! :p
 
Meaghan Edwards said:
Looks like they have nice enclosures but I'm too thrown off by the chains.
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And that's why no zoos use them, because they want to maintain a good public image. A lot of zoos would probably use chains for leashes on their larger, public animals if it wasn't for that. Of course, big cats probably shouldn't be on leashes for walking except maybe cheetahs.

Although I a bit suspicious of anything that has photos of good-looking woman petting big cats in their gallery.
 
Especially in the wake of the Ohio disaster last week, I would think that the Feline Conservation Federation or some other official group would act quickly to put together some kind of "seal of approval" to separate the legitimate sanctuaries/conservation breeding facilities (however you would define that) from the rotten institutions that call themselves sanctuaries and make the good facilities target for criticism also.

There have been enough bad experiences leading up to the Ohio incident (e.g., the horrible tiger "sanctuary" incident in California with multiple dead cats found) that I'm kind of surprised something like this doesn't already exist, or does it?
 
The Feline Conservation Federation does have an accreditation process.

And at least one (maybe more) of the FCF members offered to take animals from the Ohio place to give them a better home - but the (now deceased) owner refused. The fact that his widow (who was leaving him anyway) wants to take the six surviving animals from the Colombus Zoo and put them back at that awful place is a sign that the couple were basically clueless about what is best for animals.
 
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