Valerie came to the Nature Center as a juvenile. She is a cross between a Western and a South American cougar. She is seen in the first two pictures. In the second picture, Val looks like she is crying, but that is because she suffers from allergies. Satch came to the Nature Center as juvenile, as well. He is a Western cougar and can be seen in the last two pictures. Both were raised in captivity and are imprinted, which means they are so used to human contact that they would never be able to survive in the wild. Both cougars were declawed and had their canine teeth capped as a result of being sold in the exotic pet trade industry. Due to the procedure that was done on their canine teeth, they are both susceptible to chronic abscesses. Valerie, however, gets more than her fair share and must constantly be on medication or have another tooth pulled.

Zero came to the Nature Center when he was a cub. Hunters shot and killed his mother and decided to keep him as a pet in their backyard. They fed him junk food, and by the time he was confiscated and taken to a vet, he was given zero chance of survival, which explains the name. Zero obviously survived, though, and he is currently between 13 and 14 years of age. He suffers from a thyroid disorder and has arthritis in his back legs. We're often verbally accosted from visitors who blame us for not releasing him. What they don't understand is this -- Zero is imprinted. He would never survive in the wild. If he wasn't used as an educational tool, then he would have been put down many years ago.

Ursa came to the Nature Center as a juvenile. She came from deplorable conditions at a nearby theme park of sorts. They wouldn't wash and scrub the floor of her cage. Instead, they used a broom to brush urine and feces to the side. This leads to urine and fecal burns. She was not kept on a healthy diet. We were shocked to learn that Ursa came from a roadside zoo prior to being kept in the park. To have been through so much neglect and abuse, Ursa is incredibly sweet. Ursa is currently around 4-years-old.

Candi came to the Nature Center as a juvenile. The man who had her in his custody claimed that he never knew she was a coyote. He fed her a poor diet, and as a result, she has large swollen knots on her front legs. We've tried a number of anti-inflammatory treatments, but she does not seem to be responding. She is only 3-years-old, and unfortunately, those will be long-term problems. She, too, is incredibly sweet considering what she had to live through to get here.

Even adorable Rosebud is a victim of the exotic pet trade. He came to the Nature Center after being found in an abandoned car, left to die. His scent glands were removed to become someone's pet, but that doesn't stop Rosebud from pretending he can still spray! Rosebud is a difficult case. He craves that attention that would be given to a house pet, but he is not a pet to us. He is a wild animal that should be free but cannot because he is defenseless. We try to provide Rosebud with enrichment, anything from leaves, to bugs, to soil to dig in, but he exhibits the pacing behavior. He is an excellent educational animal, though, because in all of the programs he has participated in, he has never scratched nor bitten any employee or any visitor. Some people think he's just a skunk and it doesn't matter, but he is of no less value to us than any other animal there. Rosebud didn't ask to be put in this position.

None of the animals did, so please reconsider if you think about getting an exotic pet.