Through the combined efforts of multiple agencies and organizations, life is now forever changed for five bears and one white tiger cub after being relocated to safety by Lions Tigers & Bears. The tiger cub's name was revealed on Valentine's Day 2018 after a naming contest to raise funds for her care and the other animals at Lions Tigers & Bears. The landslide winner was Nola, in honor of her rescue from New Orleans!

Just before sunrise, the Lions Tigers & Bears Rescue Team set out on a 5,500 mile cross country rescue mission to save a tiger cub and five bears from three different southern states.

Stocked with all of the specialized equipment and supplies necessary to transport the animals long distances to safety, the hauler made its first stop today in Louisiana. Bobbi Brink, Founder and Director of Lions Tigers & Bears, along with her rescue team, are in town to pick up a five-month-old female tiger cub after being removed from a private residence by local authorities. Thankfully, the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans was able to stabilize the severely neglected cub and care for her until our arrival. Today marks a fresh start for this young tiger, who has known terrible abuse in her short life, and we are looking forward to welcoming her to her new home at Lions Tigers & Bears!

Next stop on the route was Alabama to pick up three privately owned black bears, one less than a year old, all being housed in very small enclosures and unsanitary conditions. With a lot of patience and some tempting food offerings, Ben, Jerri and Baloo were finally loaded into their individual transfer cages for safe transport in the hauler. December 19, 2017 (Wilmington, NC): The Lions Tigers & Bears rescue team was back on the road that same day to pick up a Syrian brown bear and a black bear/grizzly bear hybrid in North Carolina, both of whom were also being housed in very small enclosures at a roadside zoo. Due to their size and the logistics of the location, Ben (no relation to the bear named Ben from Alabama!) and Booger were sedated for their safe transfer to the hauler. Veterinarians were on hand to carefully monitor the animals, taking the opportunity to perform physical exams on each of them while they were under anesthesia. It wasn't long before the Lions Tigers & Bears rescue team was back in the hauler with their full load of precious cargo, headed west to transport all five bears to The Wild Animal Sanctuary in Colorado. Rescue missions such as these involve countless hours of preparation, strategic coordination while traveling from state-to-state, and tons of paperwork. All of this is executed quickly and efficiently by the Lions Tigers & Bears team to minimize travel time for the animals being transported.

Days like this make us grateful for the climate-controlled hauler, as we arrived at The Wild Animal Sanctuary to a cold, snowy day! The five bears will now live out the rest of their lives in spacious habitats at a reputable sanctuary instead of being confined to small cages.

The rescue hauler arrived back at Lions Tigers & Bears with a small black and white-striped Christmas miracle: the tiger cub is finally at her forever home! She will receive ongoing medical care and monitoring as she heals from the neglect and abuse she suffered before starting her new life at Lions Tigers & Bears. Because of your support, a total of six lives were saved on this rescue mission -- thank you!