Rescued tigers making home at Albion park

ALBION – Quick thinking on the part of Black Pine Animal Park staff and emergency contributions by three local companies have given three Bengal tigers a new home at the 12 1/2-acre park.

The tigers – females Luna, 6, Darly, 2, and 5-year-old male Montrose – were among 27 exotic animals found last month living in what state conservation officers described as squalor at a Flat Rock animal breeding facility.

Staff at the Albion park had just more than two weeks to find money and supplies to build a house for the tigers before making the three-hour trip Sunday to Flat Rock to rescue the cats. The park had initially been contacted by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources about adopting some of the animals and then worked with Dennis Hill, the farm’s owner, to bring the animals to Albion.

Black Pine received contributions from Eye Pro in Fort Wayne, Corporate Construction in Auburn and Lowe’s in Fort Wayne for the quick building project. But now the park needs $3,000 to put the finishing touches on the new building and construct an outdoor area, connected to the building, for the tigers, said Lori Gagen, president of the park’s board of directors.

The addition of the tigers will mean increased vet costs, especially for their initial exams this week, and a need for more meat. The park is also looking for people to donate cattle and corn crib panels and chain-link fence for the outdoor habitat, Gagen said.

“Our volunteer staff was there for the first part, and now we need the community to step in,” she said. “We really would like the community to ‘adopt’ these animals. We’ve gotten it started, and we really need the community support to continue.”

The park, an animal sanctuary and zoo with 95 rescued animals, had intended to adopt only two tigers from the Flat Rock farm but took a third at the request of the farm’s owner Sunday.

State conservation officers raided Hill’s farm, about 30 miles south of Indianapolis, on Sept. 23 where Black Pine’s newly adopted tigers were among a number of animals living in pens with 6 inches or more of mud, feces and urine, the DNR reported.

As part of an agreement with the state, Hill withdrew his court challenge to the DNR’s attempted removal of the animals and agreed to give away most of them, the DNR said last week. A timeline has been set up mandating how quickly Hill must reduce the number of animals on his property.

Hill must meet state licensing standards by the end of this month to keep three animals: a white tiger, a white tiger cub and a mountain lion.

Snuggled up against the wiring of the cage at his new home Tuesday morning, Montrose slept peacefully while Darly could be heard chuffing – a vocal noise tigers make when they are content – as Jessica Price, senior zookeeper at the park, held her hand against the cage. Luna, who stayed crouched low in her cage, wasn’t ready for a lot of human contact yet, Price said.

Price, who volunteered at the park during high school and is back after a few years as a professional zookeeper, said she has a lot of work to do with the tigers before park visitors can see them.

Most of that work will involve sitting in their building talking to them. The tigers won’t be ready to be put on exhibit for at least two weeks, Price said.

“It’s a very, very slow process,” she said. “They have to earn your trust. They have to learn that nothing bad is going to happen.”

Though the tigers had been living in questionable conditions, they don’t appear to have any health problems, Price said. The park’s veterinarian will examine the tigers this week giving vaccinations and testing their blood.

“For the most part the animals are healthy. They’re not terribly underweight,” she said. “They just needed to get into some dry, bigger conditions.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.