Nishchala, a white Bengal tiger at the Tiger Creek Sanctuary in Tyler. (Contributed Photo)

After being embroiled in litigation with Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) for almost two years, Tiger Creek Animal Sanctuary in Tyler reached a settlement by agreeing to become fully compliant with Association of Zoos and Aquarium (AZA) standards within two years.

Both the organization which brought forth the suit and Tiger Creek agree the settlement is the “best” possible outcome.

“We care for these animals very much,” said Emily Brooks, executive director of Tiger Creek Sanctuary. “A lot of them previously came from horrible conditions… we do everything we can to make sure they are well taken care of. (We were) disheartened that anyone who previously claimed to ‘love our animals’ would go to such extreme lengths over personal discord.”

In June 2022, Tyler’s wildlife refuge was sued by ALDF over concerns for their animals’ welfare. The suit alleged the sanctuary violated the Endangered Species Act, claiming the facility harmed, harassed and killed several animals between 2018 and the initial filing of the lawsuit in 2022.

ALDF is a nonprofit animal law advocacy organization whose mission is to ‘protect the lives and advance the interests of animals through the legal system.’

The ALDF and the National Foundation for Rescued Animals, an animal exhibitor doing business as Tiger Creek Animal Sanctuary, reached a settlement in February, pending the dismissal of the Endangered Species Act lawsuit filed in March 2022.

The tentative settlement states Tiger Creek agrees to be in full compliance of the AZA standards within two years. According to ALDF, it will require significant changes to the facility and level of care being provided to the animals.

“The first-hand observations, extensive photographic and video evidence, and government analyses — including an official warning issued by the USDA — indicated that animals at Tiger Creek believed to be protected by the Endangered Species Act have been mentally and physically suffering and that adequate care was withheld or delayed,” ALDF Senior Staff Attorney Caitlin Foley said.

In a previous article, Brooks said the accusations regarding a lack of veterinary care were a result of a lack of documentation and record-keeping. She pointed out the facility was not fined by USDA and no action was taken against Tiger Creek for the violations.

“When we first heard of the allegations, we were initially in shock,” Brooks said. “We had experienced individuals retaliating against us in the past but never with this level of bold impudence.”

Three former Tiger Creek employees gave declaration statements to ALDF as part of the complaint filed in March 2022. One worked from August 2014 to January 2019; another worked from October 2017 to March 2018 and the third worked from 2016 to February 2020.

“After becoming concerned with the conditions there, the employees spoke out about their observations of the animals,” Foley said.

The former employees made claims of negligence that they said resulted in the death of at least nine endangered lions and tigers, including Bengali and another tiger named Jasmine, according to the suit.

Brooks said the claims were ‘baseless’ and stemmed from disgruntled former employees who were terminated by a previous director.

“Tiger Creek also had kept two ESA-protected ring-tailed lemurs, highly social animals who typically live in groups, isolated in separate enclosures with insufficient opportunities for enrichment and play,” Foley said.

Since 1995, the sanctuary has been home to many rescued endangered animals — tigers, lions, cougars, pumas and more. The mission of the 173-acre wildlife preserve and animal sanctuary has been to help animals that have been abused, neglected, or displaced. Some arrived as cubs, some arrived with evidence of neglect or just in need of care.

“We’ve had some that came to us already in geriatric stages,” Brooks said. “Some we were able to take care of to live a little longer… but there were others that — unfortunately — had to ultimately be euthanized due to health issues.”

The lifespan of tigers in the wild is usually between 10 and 15 years. In human care, or on rare occasions in the wild, a tiger can live up to 20 years, according to Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute.

One of Tiger Creek’s residents, Bengali, who was confirmed as the oldest tiger living in captivity by the Guinness Book of World Records in July 2021, was euthanized in May 2022 at 26 years old. He was unable to walk or stand because of chronic spondylosis — or arthritis.

Usually when an animal is euthanized, a necropsy — animal autopsy — is performed to determine a specific cause of death. According to Brooks, this is not often required for the geriatric animals.

“Euthanasia is not something we take lightly,” she said. “But if their quality of life isn’t great, we don’t want to prolong suffering.”

According to ALDF, several big cats allegedly didn’t receive timely veterinary care, including Tibor, a tiger who had not eaten for 48 hours and would not move from the bottom of his enclosure when the former employees requested veterinary care.

“Former employees watched as Tibor died without veterinary intervention,” Foley said. “(He spent) hours in the rain and laying on his side in his own urine without any veterinary care.”

However, Brooks said none of the animals were ever without veterinary care.

“They’ve all received care,” Brooks said. “Whenever our employees notice something, they’ll send us photos and then we get in touch with our veterinarian. Our veterinarians have been here when we needed them. There’s always someone here. We have someone who lives on the grounds. We’ve never just ‘let’ an animal die alone.”

Former employees also made claims of cutting the animals’ food rations to save money.

“We don’t need to save money, certainly not at the expense of feeding our animals,” Brooks said. “They have to adhere to a diet, as many animals in captivity do.”

According to Brooks, the cats are fed a ‘commercial feline complete diet’ that provides all the necessary nutrients they need and adheres to the diet of any carnivore.

While Tiger Creek maintains the allegations against them are unfounded, they have agreed to become accredited with AZA within five years of the settlement’s execution. If they are unable to meet that deadline, all of the endangered and threatened animals will be transferred to facilities chosen by ALDF.

“This is the best-case scenario — with the most immediate effect — for all the animals at Tiger Creek,” Foley said. “The settlement provides provisions that the animals will be monitored regularly, and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums has much more vigorous standards than those enforced by the USDA.”

To ensure the changes are made, a mutually agreed upon neutral, third-party auditor will make visits to Tiger Creek leading up to the two-year deadline to determine if Tiger Creek is AZA compliant.

“This was the best possible outcome — and the only one we were willing to accept — to put this legal battle behind us and continue our mission,” Brooks said. “We are very pleased because that is the end result. That is exactly what happened.”

According to a press release from ALDF, starting immediately, upon execution, Tiger Creek agrees to:

• not acquire any new endangered or threatened animals until it is compliant with AZA standards;
• not breed any endangered species;
• not allow human interactions with endangered or threatened species outside of that deemed necessary by an attending veterinarian;
• have an attending veterinarian with heightened training or an expertise in exotic animals;
• make adjustments to tiger housing as deemed necessary by the attending veterinarian; and
• provide ring-tailed lemurs with enrichment, nutrition, and veterinary care in compliance with the AZA standards.

“Throughout the legal battle, Tiger Creek remained steadfast in the belief that the care provided to animals housed within its facilities meets or exceeds the guidelines laid out by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums,” Brooks said in a Facebook post. “This settlement reaffirms Tiger Creek’s commitment to maintaining its stringent animal care standards without any disruption.”

Tiger Creek has been working on expanding its facilities to make more room for the rescued and endangered animals. The expansion has also included a new Veterinarian Science Center that will be utilized for surgeries and the recovery of animals that cannot be returned to their enclosure immediately, as well as a quarantine area for newer arrivals.

“We are grateful for our donors, sponsors, friends, our staff and our amazing veterinarian for their unwavering faith in us and continuous support of our mission,” Brooks said. “We look forward to being able to continue our focus on what we do best, saving animals one by one.”