Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge facts for kids

Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge (TCWR) is a 459-acre (186 ha) wildlife refuge for abused, abandoned, and neglected big cats.

The Eureka Springs, Arkansas, refuge houses 100 (or more) animals. It mainly specializes in tigers, but there are also lions, leopards, cougars, bobcats, black bears, ligers, servals, a monkey, a coatimundi and a grizzly bear.

In 2015 Turpentine Creek reached Verified Status from the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries.

Turpentine Creek is a member of American Association of Zoo Keepers.

Expansion

In 2012 Turpentine Creek rescued 34 big cats from a breeding facility. To accommodate this massive number of cats a secondary area was built, which is now referred to as "Rescue Ridge". Many of the cats rescued from the facility were not used to human contact. To reduce stress to the animals this area is not open to the public.

Turpentine Creek has spent the past few years working to expand the refuge. The original area, now referred to as the "Compound" that contained smaller cages with cement flooring has been emptied. Turpentine has built spacious, grassy habitats ranging in size from 1/4 acre to 1/2 acre for the animals to live in over the past 14 years.

As of Sept. 16th 2015, all of the small concrete cages that used to make up the majority of Turpentine Creek have been emptied. Sept. 17th 2015, demolition of the old "compound" area began.

Turpentine Creek has an on-site Veterinary Hospital for the animals who reside at Turpentine Creek. The vet hospital is on Turpentine Creek's property and makes giving the animals medical attention easier. Having a vet hospital on-site is less stress to the animals and reduces the risk of the animals, or any human around them, from getting injured.