An estimated 13-year-old female tiger named Sitara recently became a permanent resident of the Oakland Zoo. Sitara is one of five tigers rescued by the zoo in partnership with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals from a now-closed roadside zoo called Barry R. Kirshner Wildlife Foundation in Oroville in Butte County.
According to a press release from the Oakland Zoo, Sitara has some lameness in a hind leg, but she has otherwise remained strong since her rescue. Sitara is finishing her initial quarantine and currently has access to her night house and a small outdoor enclosure away from the public. She will be introduced to the rest of her new habitat in the coming weeks.
“She used to be in a very small space, a cage, and only knew cement, dirt,” said Isabella Linares, a spokesperson for the Oakland Zoo. “It’s going to be the first time she’s ever accessed grass and a habitat that is suited to her needs. It does get really emotional when we see them go on habitat and it means so much.”
The Oakland Zoo tiger habitat has stood empty since two of their previously rescued tigers, Mia and Lola, died earlier this year. The zoo hopes guests will be able to see Sitara at limited times in the next few weeks as she adapts to her new habitat. She will soon have access to pools, a waterfall, raised platforms, and vegetation she’s never seen before. Tigers are typically solitary animals, though males and females come together for mating and females sometimes stay together. Linares said Sitara will be fine by herself, but the zoo is also open to more tiger residents.
“The current tiger cases are not an isolated effort,” said Darren Minier, director of Animal Welfare and Research at Oakland Zoo. “They are part of a sustained, mission-driven response to wildlife exploitation and trafficking.”
PETA said in a press release that these tigers were rescued due to pressure from an ongoing lawsuit of theirs against Kirshner and its affiliates.
“These tigers endured hell on Earth in Kirshner’s clutches, on top of which, when authorities closed in, the roadside zoo shuffled the animals around to other seedy facilities like so many stolen goods,” says PETA Managing Director of Captive Wildlife Debbie Metzler.
One of the other rescued tigers was found with end-stage arthritis and spinal disease affecting her hind legs. She didn’t respond to treatment and was euthanized. The remaining three tigers have been transferred from Oakland Zoo to the accredited sanctuaries Performing Animal Welfare Society in California and Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge in Arkansas.