Photos by Corey Lowenstein - clowenst@newsobserver.com
Rajahji, 14, patrols his enclosure at Carolina Tiger Rescue, which gives weekend tours for visitors such as Rob Allen of Morrisville, right. Rajahji lived up to his prickly reputation by trying to spray the tour group.
PITTSBORO -- Out in rural Chatham County, where it is common to hear cattle lo, horses whinny and even a coyote bay, growls and roars more typical to the wilds of Asia or Africa also rise from a large, secluded property not far from Pittsboro.
There are lions and tigers at the Carolina Tiger Rescue sanctuary and preserve, and there's a host of avid volunteers ready to show off the big cats and other exotic animals in their midst.
Anita Letkemann, September's volunteer of the month, leads eager adults and children along gravel and gnarled forest paths on Saturday morning. Her first stop is at a fenced area where a caracal, a slender, long-legged cat with large, Spock-like, black-tufted ears, paces and climbs.
She moves on to a nearby ocelot, or dwarf leopard, as the cats from Central America and the southern United States were sometimes called. Their spotted pelts at one time were a favorite among furriers, who would stitch together 30 to 35 to make one coat.
As Letkemann explains how ocelots are starting to make a comeback in the wilds of Texas, Maria Maschauer, another volunteer, slips into the enclosed area with a bottle of Obsession and peppermint extract. She spritzes the perfume and dabs the extract on an old Christmas tree and waits.
The ocelot makes its way over to the tree, gives it a big sniff and walks away. Not for long, though. Soon the cat has its nose to the ground making a wide circle around the tree, seemingly obsessed with finding the source of the Obsession.
At Carolina Tiger Rescue's sanctuary and the Conservators' Center, an exotic animal sanctuary in Caswell County near Mebane, undecorated Christmas trees are a big hit.
The sanctuaries not only encourage people to leave their evergreens for the exotic animals, they stage tours, tree tosses and other events to entice new visitors and generate enthusiasm for saving and protecting wild cats in captivity and in the wild.
Carolina Tiger Rescue evolved two years ago from the Carnivore Preservation Trust, which was started in the early 1980s as a captive breeding program for such species as ocelots, servals and binturongs.
The nonprofit organization ceased its breeding program in 2000 after species survival plans began to include genetic registries to ensure diversity in the captive population. Still, the organization realized there remained a dire need for homes for displaced wildcats and the rescue operation grew from that.
Lives of the tigers
Now the sanctuary, tucked off Hanks Chapel Road in eastern Chatham County, typically has about 70 animals - 19 of which are tigers, each with its own story.
Some started off as entertainers in fancy Mexican hotels and beachfront photo booths before outgrowing their cute cub stage and being shipped to Chatham County.
An African serval named Elvis was left in a crate in the driveway with a note stating his family no longer could care for him. It was signed, "Love Me Tender, Elvis."
Lucky, a tiger, was rescued after being found in the back seat of a car in Michigan.
Tex, a tiger that lives in the same enclosed area as Jelly Bean, a blue-eyed white tiger whose original owner could not sell him on the Asian market, was rescued from a truck stop.
Rajaji, a very social tiger who came to Chatham County from a small zoo in Wake Forest, pranced back and forth in his enclosed area Saturday morning to the small tour group's many "oohs" and "aahs." His arthritic legs did not seem to be hampering his movement.
The old guy has a reputation for spraying audiences.
"If you see him turn around and lift his tail," Letkemann advised, "move to the left or right."
And sure enough, Rajaji lived up to his reputation, lifting his tail and sending an aroma in the air that Letkemann likened to buttered popcorn.
Visitors impressed
Keith Gavigan, education director at Carolina Tiger Rescue, is wild about the big cats at the sanctuary.
"They are charismatic, they are the top of the food chain - powerful, beautiful, majestic and super cool," he said.
And judging from the reaction of the young and old who took the tour, Gavigan is not alone in his thinking.
Annamarie and Larry Nelson, a couple from Sneads Ferry in Onslow County, said the three-hour drive was well worth their time on Saturday morning.
Julianne Smith, 6, and her sister Ella Smith, 5, have kitty cats at home. But the girls were thrilled their dad, Jason Smith, had arranged the outing from Cary.
Julianne was taken by the white tiger and fascinated by the one cat's obsession with Obsession. Her little sister had difficulty selecting which part of the tour was her favorite.
"I liked all of it," Ella said.
A roar of success from a preschooler.
