Section:
B
The University Daily Kansan
Features
WEDNESDAY, JULY 5, 2000
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Boomer and his cagemate, Madeleine, are Ken Alvarez's lion breeding pair, which he keeps at an exotic cat farm around children and can travel with his exotic cat show. Photo by Phil Cauthon/KANSAN near Oskaloosa. Each year, Alvarez breeds up to four lions or tigers for "picture cats" - young cats that are safe
Where the wild things are
Ken Alvarez and his 2-year-old leopard, Tundra, are an unlikely match. Alvarez said leopards were solitary animals and typically didn't keep company with other leopards, much less humans. However, Tundra is a veteran of Alvarez's traveling cat show and is quite comfortable even around strangers. Photo by Phil Cauthun/KANSAN
By Phil Cauthon editor@kansan.com Kansan campus editi
One look at Boomer's penetrating glare and visitors to the exotic cat farm near Oskaloosa will know they are not in a zoo.
Though the 400-pound male lion — like all 34 lions, tigers, cougars and leopards on the farm — is doubly secure behind cages much like those in any zoo, Boomer's fierce territoriality is rarely seen in zoo animals more accustomed to the presence of humans.
And few zoo-goers will ever feel the fear that Boomer's growls and stares arouse in many visitors to Barb and Dick Stephens' cat farm.
"Oh, Boomer's all right," Barb Stephens reassures a newly arrived group of visitors. "He just likes to intimidate, don't you Boomer? As soon as you show him you're not afraid, he's just another pussy cat. He's really a sweetheart."
As a teen visitor squats within a foot of Boomer's cage, Stephens quickly adds, "You still want to stay plenty back from the cage, sweetle."
Curiosity...
Stephens bought her first cat — a cougar named Stinky — six years ago for $550 out of the Animal Finders' Guide, the want ads for anything from alligators to zebras.
"It's always been a dream of mine." Stephens said. "And now they're mine, and I love them. We love them all."
now they're mine, and I love them. We love them all." In 1997, Stephens bought Tuffy, her first Siberian tiger kitten, who is now her 750-pound pride and joy.
Along the way she has taken on four more cougars and a lioness kitten — all abandoned by their owners and directed to Stephens' refuge by word of mouth.
"The whole reason we have people out here is to educate them," Stephens said — noting that she and her husband, Dick, welcome all visitors free of charge. "People think, 'Oh, if'd be cool to have a虎 or lion' — until it gets to 300 pounds. Well, somebody still has to take care of them."
Visitors to the Stephens' exticat cat farm must call Barb or Dick to schedule an appointment: 1-785-683-2190. The farm is at 15175 Warren Road, Oskaloosa. Take Hwy. 59 north of Lawrence. Once in Oskaloosa, take the third right after Thriftway onto Warren Road, which is unmarked and ends at the farm.
Neither federal nor state law prohibit Kansans from owning exotic pets, whether toucans or tigers. The City of Lawrence and Douglas County prohibit ownership of most exotic pets, including all big cats.
But there are probably more Kansans than that keeping big cats as pets. Exotic pet owners need licenses only when they breed cats, travel with them or otherwise profit from them, said Robert Bacon, a USDA inspector. Cougars are an exception. Because they are native to
At least eight Kansas counties permit exotic cats, and 14 Kansans own licensed farms like the Stephens', according to U.S. Department of Agriculture licensing records.
Cougars are an exception. Because they are native to Kansas, they are licensed under the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks.
"There are people getting into this business who don't know what they're doing," he said. "But many people genuinely care about the animals, and they have good operations and are a credit to the industry."
"We go to each site a minimum of once a year," said Bacon, who oversees 21 counties in Kansas, inspecting zoos, kennels, circuses, traveling petting zoos, airports that ship live cargo and farms like the Stephens'.
Exotic cat licensees are subject to unannounced inspections several times a year by Bacon and other USDA officials.
"If somebody is a stripper — and this really happened — and she has a Bengal tiger as part of her act, then we go to where she has the cat — in this case the strip joint — and you do your job and you leave," Bacon said. "We go to some sites three or four times a year, or more for the worst facilities. Those that are more noncompliant get visited more."
Bacon said operations like the one in Oskaloosa were as varied as the people who ran them. At a minimum, he said, his inspections check for adequate caging, edible food, potable water, healthy animals and signs of neglect such as scattered bones or old feces.
...Saves the cats
Abandoned animals now comprise less than half of Stephens' cats. In April, her farm's cat population more than doubled when she began taking care of cats owned by Ken Alvarez, who operates a USDA-licensed traveling cat show.
By the end of this week — once Alvarez brings his two white tiger kittens — Stephens' farm will house 36 cats and one black bear cub.
Alvarez — a 31-year-old manufacturer who lives
near Wichita — says he travels with his cats to discourage people from keeping them as pets and to raise awareness of exotic cat conservation programs.
The $10 he charges for each photo — averaging 300 or 400 photos per show — nearly covers the cost of keeping his cats, he said. And several shows a year are for charity, including benefits for tiger research and conservation.
Now in his third year, Alvarez has booked several dozen shows, touring the United States and Canada with four or five picture cats, kittens that are just a few months old and safe for contact with children.
"This has been a lifelong dream and, after starting the show with one tiger, we were able to work up from there," Alvarez said. "It looks like a profitable business, but it's not. We do it because we love the animals."
Food alone costs about $1,700 a month for his 34 cats — or about $50 per cat each month, he said. Except for a weekly starve-day, his full-grown cats get about 10 pounds of chicken and beef daily. The cats occasionally get a treat when the sheriff directs the Stephenses to area roadkill.
"It's pretty interesting to watch them eat a deer." Alvarez said. "The tear it to pieces pretty darn quick."
Selling the ex-picture cats would be the easiest way to sustain Alvarez's show, were it not diametrically opposed to his ideals.
All things considered, keeping one adult lion or tiger costs Alvarez about $2,000 a year.
Other costs include an average of $5,000 a year in veterinary care for all the cats and $4,000 each year for a million-dollar insurance policy.
Not only would he save thousands in costs each year, but he also could earn more than $1,000 for each adult tiger or lion he sold through the Animal Finders' Guide.
Alvarez said that if someone insisted on buying one of his cats, he would require that the buyer work with him for several months to prove dedication to the cat. Even then, he said, he would rather not accept money for a cat.
Alvarez has to breed three or four cats a year to keep his traveling show going. Before they are 2 years old, tigers put on about 300 pounds, rendering them far too large to be picture cats.
"If someone offered me $10,000 for a cat, I wouldn't do it," Alvarez said. "These cats are my kids and you wouldn't sell your kids."
And Alvarez and Stephens can plan on those costs for 10 to 20 years — the typical life span of a big cat.
Dick Stephens has never sold any of his cats either. He said his work as a federal contractor pays for his exotic pets. But he said he would consider breeding his cougars for sale if the price were to rise substantially higher than the current $400.
Endangered species?
Not for sale
A reason cited by Alvarez and Stephens for raising Siberian tigers is to help preserve an endangered species. According to National Geographic magazine, fewer than 7,000 tigers remain in the wild.
Tiger numbers continue to dwindle, say researchers, because of poaching in India and China, where a dead tiger can fetch up to $250,000 on the black market. Not only are the pelts extremely valuable, but so are tiger teeth, claws and entrails — all used as aphrodisiacs — and tiger penis, which is considered a delicacy in many Asian cultures.
Though Stephens and Alvarez say their cats are all
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See TIGER on page 4B