Pittsboro, North Carolina.

My son and his wife live near the town of Pittsboro, not too far from Chapel Hill in North Carolina. On an evening during our visit, they brought us to a wild cat rescue facility just a short drive from their house. For years, the rescue was operated by a dedicated veterinarian. After he passed on, a nonprofit sanctuary took over the responsibility of the care of these wild cats.

On their website is a short bio of each of the cats. Saber is the white tiger. His bio reads, “Saber is a great example of how beautiful white tigers can be but also how detrimental the inbreeding that produces them can be, as it causes harmful birth defects in the tigers. Due to inbreeding, Saber is cross-eyed, which limits his sight. Saber seems to always be happy; he enjoys getting enrichment and lounging. Saber especially loves water! He is always playing in his water dish and loves his pool in the warmer months!”

Shira and Saber share the same enclosure. Her bio reads, “Shira is a playful tiger.  She was rescued along with three other tigers, Tio, Yanaba, and Kaari, in April of 2018.  Shira has enjoyed all the new experiences at Carolina Tiger Rescue and typically just goes with the flow.”

Tours are always guided, limited to small numbers of guests, and well supervised by the staff of volunteers. You won’t find images here of cats in the wild. Most of these cats were rescued from well-meaning and not-so-well-meaning owners who just couldn’t handle their “pet” anymore. Others were injured in the wild and will never be able to be in the wild again.

The website is a wonderful place to learn about these wild animals which are always separated by a large cage, and a no-mans land protected by a fence. There is no way a photographer can escape the chainlink views available, but it’s for the safety of the guests. On the property, they even have some caged areas identified for humans to use should one of the great cats escape its enclosure.

Star is the female cougar housed in the facility. She was born in 1997 and was rescued from a defunct roadside zoo in 2012. She came to the facility along with two black leopards.

Beausoleil was only six months old when he was rescued in 2019. He was found wandering in a backyard in Washington with no sign of his mother. He is nicknamed “Beau”.

There are three bobcats in the sanctuary, so I’m not 100 percent that I’ve identified the correct bobcat. In 2016, Talon was part of a rescue of 16 animals that went to this facility. Prior to living in a facility in Colorado, Talon was living in a family home as a “pet”. After the owner died, Talon went to the facility in Colorado.

Kitwana is one of the two Caracals living at the sanctuary since 2016. They were both a part of the rescue from that facility in Colorado. In all, over 100 animals found homes in other sanctuaries around the country when their Colorado home closed down.

All tours are pre-arranged, and no walk-ins are allowed. We took an early evening twilight tour, but there are regularly scheduled daytime tours as well. You can also arrange for a private tour. Ticket prices vary. Our Twilight Tour tickets were $28 per adult.

This tiger was enjoying a nap on a high platform. I was intrigued by the size of its paws. We did see some lions on our tour, but the views were limited and not photographable. Photography is allowed on the tour, but a release must be signed. Bring a long lens with you. Due to the lateness of the day and the shady enclosures, I had to accept some noise levels in the images with my slow F3.5/6.3 Tamron lens. Bring your fastest lens, especially if you are doing the twilight tour.

In all, I processed 14 images from our visit to the facility. I’ve posted them all on my Flickr site in an album here. The Carolina Tiger Rescue is one of the more interesting tours we’ve joined in some time. It’s well worth the price of admission. Don’t make the same mistake I did, however. Spend some time on their website here to learn more about the facility. You’ll find the articles interesting and informative. Plan your stay and order your tickets well in advance as they sell out quickly.

John Steiner