Monthly Archives: March 2013

Mar 30 2013

SAFARI’S SHAMMI THE TIGER thinks volunteer’s FINGER IS FOOD

Safari's Shammi the Golden Tabby Tiger

Kim Cooper had been volunteering at Safari’s for a little over two years when she was giving a guided tour in the fall of 2003.  Reaching out to pet Shammi, the golden tabby Bengal tiger, while looking in another direction and with her back turned toward the tiger, Kim was shocked by the big cat’s reaction, when Shammi bit the end off of her middle finger on her right hand. Shammi likely meant her no harm. Before 2007, treats were given to the big cats using a set of metal kitchen tongs. The look and feel of Kim’s long, artificial nails may have reminded Shammi of the feeding tongs and she could have thought she was in for a treat of a chicken leg.

This is another injury by one of Safari’s animals that should have been reported to the USDA, as required by federal regulations, but wasn’t. Medical personnel were told that Kim and a staff member were down by the river and had tried to stop a dog fight. That was the standby story for many of the bite injuries caused by Safari’s animals—it was a dog bite—to avoid having an incident reported to the USDA, which could result in a write-up and possible penalties.

A photo of Kim Cooper with her bandaged finger was taken at the park a day or two later. You can view it in the photo album attached to this post on Safari’s Truth Destination Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.438748216202870.1073741829.375092402568452&type=1

Presenting Safari’s Sanctuary as a safe and secure park, Safari’s park manager, Kurt Beckelman (who started working at Safari’s in 2001, just before Kim) told a reporter in 2005 that a tiger had never tried to bite anyone at Safari’s. As the person in charge of the big cats and supervisor over Kim, he would almost certainly have been aware of the biting injury caused by Shammi four years earlier. The news article followed a teen’s death from a tiger attack at an animal sanctuary in Kansas.

QUOTE

“Incidents such as the Kansas death are exactly why Safari’s Exotic Wildlife Sanctuary stopped picture-taking a year ago, said Kurt Becklman, a volunteer at the Broken Arrow park.

“Anything can make a cat turn, he said. “If the cat isn’t familiar with the person, then anything can kind of set a cat off. I’m not saying it will all the time, but there is always that chance.

He said a tiger has never tried to bite anyone at the sanctuary’s most popular exhibit.

The sanctuary is one of the parks that allows visitors to feed tigers. For $10, visitors can feed a tiger raw chicken with a long tong. Beckelman said a park guide is always between the fenced tiger and the visitor.”

END QUOTE

http://newsok.com/state-park-owners-urge-caution-after-tiger-attack/article/2908354

Regardless of the known dangers of working with large exotic animals, in particular carnivorous cats, Safari’s staff continued to enter many of the large cats’ cages and enclosures to feed them, sometimes directly from their hands to the mouths of these potentially dangerous animals. See photos of recent examples of this in the album connected to this post.

Safari’s owner, Lori Ensign-Scroggins, confirmed in writing this month that staff still do enter some of the big cats’ cages at feeding time but brushes the danger aside by describing those particular cats as “sweethearts,” giving a false sense of security, when the reality is—proven time and time again, there are no guarantees when it comes to undomesticated large carnivorous cats—whether or not a person is familiar with the cat or not. This is an excerpt of what Lori posted on March 9, 2013, to a KJRH news article about Safari’s to raise money and donations, in response to comments posted to the article bringing up serious issues at the park, including how big cats were fed. [Capitalization and punctuation are Lori’s, copied directly from the comment on the article.]

QUOTE

WE DO GO IN WITH SOME EXOTICS, ARE BUILDING LOCKOUTS FOR THEM ALL, BUT THE ONES WE RAISED ARE STILL SWEETHEARTS, AND ONLY A FEW OF US TRAINED PERSONS DO THIS… WE ONLY GO IN WITH A HANDFUL OF CATS WE RAISED. WE DO NOT TRAIN NEW PEOPLE TO DO THIS, AS WE ARE BUILDING LOCKOUTS AND ALL WILL BE HANDLED THIS WAY AS WE CHANGE. THIS IS NOT AGAINST THE LAW. YOU HAVE PROOF? I POST THE PICTURES, AND EXPLAIN EACH ISSUE DAILY! PROOF OF WHAT? ME LOVING THESE ANIMALS?

END QUOTE

http://www.kjrh.com/dpp/news/local_news/broken_arrow/Safaris-Animal-Sanctuary-in-Broken-Arrow-is-looking-for-donations-and-volunteers#ixzz2NWkWLzpz

In a 2003 Tulsa World article titled “Keeping exotic animals as pets can be dangerous,” Lori is quoted as saying:

QUOTE

“They play rough; it’s the nature of the beast,” Ensign said. “(The owners) truly believe they have bonded with an animal, but they’re never going to be tame. They’re wild animals.”

END QUOTE

Unfortunately, Lori and many of her staff are just like those private owners, when it comes to the exotic animals they care for. They think their personal relationships caring for and working with these animals will protect them from an attack, because the animals are “sweethearts” or were “raised” at Safari’s—ignoring the truth of Lori’s words “…they’re never going to be tame. They’re wild animals.”

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=78&articleid=031022_Co_zb1_keeping

Lori takes great pride in Safari’s having been around for 17 years. Despite that longevity, and despite the tragic death of intern Peter Getz following the liger attack in 2008, it wasn’t until the USDA revoked Lori’s license in the summer of 2012 and the park was subsequently closed to the public that serious efforts were underway to add lock-outs to more of the big cats’ enclosures and cages. When Lori and Kurt talk to the media, they give lip service to the dangers that exotic animals present, particularly large carnivores. There is a contradiction between their words and the reality of how the park is run on a day-to-day basis.

Mar 19 2013

LEOPARD ATTACK AT SAFARI’S IN 2004

Safari's Oscar - African leopard

Oscar, one of Safari’s two melanistic (black) African leopards, attacked and seriously injured one of Safari’s employees, Jon Soltis, on December 11, 2004, the same day that his (Oscar’s) two cubs were removed from their mother Mirage, Oscar’s mate living in the enclosure next door to his. Both adult leopards were emotionally disturbed by the removal of the newborn cubs.The cubs were only two days old at the time, but the intent was for them to be raised by humans and bottle fed, to increase their docility—for use at “interactive zoos.” Bagheera went to Tiger Safari in Tuttle, OK, when he was two weeks old. Amadeus was removed from his brother Bagheera’s company when he was only five days old and was raised at Kurt Beckelman’s home until he was old enough to come back to be on display at Safari’s. He soon went home to become Kurt’s permanent pet.

Read a previous post, for more information:  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.428799703864388.1073741826.375092402568452&type=1


All supporting documents and photos to this blog post can be viewed through this link to the post on Safari’s Truth Destination Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.434728089938216.1073741828.375092402568452&type=1

Jon went in to Oscar’s enclosure to clean and soon after, Oscar attacked him from behind, biting into his scalp and left forearm. Stacy Scroggins, the husband of the park’s owner Lori Ensign-Scroggins, was in the area, outside of Oscar’s cage. Stacy punched Oscar in the head and hit him with a shovel to get the leopard off of Jon. Lori drove Jon to the emergency room, where he received stitches. The ER doctor was told that the injury was caused by a dog (an excuse used often for injuries caused by Safari’s animals to avoid problems with and penalties from the USDA).

Someone did report the attack and injury to the USDA, though, and it was included as a finding in a January 2005 inspection by one of the agency’s inspectors (all are veterinarians). From the report (see screen cap of this page from the report in photo album attached to this post):

_____

“In a separate incident reported to us by [identity removed], another part time employee was attacked by a leopard. In this incident, a female leopard was housed in an enclosure next to a male leopard. Babies were removed from the female enclosure. This caused the adult animals to be agitated. An employee later entered the male enclosure and was attacked by the animal on the arm and shoulder. Animals shall be handled as expeditiously and carefully as possible to avoid stress, physical harm and unnecessary discomfort. Handlers must be experienced and able to apply their knowledge of safety.”

_____

In a series of comments (in response to comments made by us) posted both to a recent article on KJRH and on her personal FB page, Lori Ensign-Scroggins, admitted to breeding the leopards, to having the cubs taken from their mother, and to the leopard attack. However, she blames a lack of communication with staff in not informing them soon enough to stay away from the leopards to avoid problems. Below is what she wrote related to those subjects, including her recopying the portions of my (Jolie’s) comments before her response to each. [No changes were made to the spelling or capitalization—this is how it was posted on the article, with the exception of my adding spacing between paragraphs. Lori’s responses are in CAPS]:

_____

Lori wrote:

QUOTE

JolieAdams QUOTE: Lori Ensign-Scroggins bred two of Safari’s black African leopards Mirage and Oscar, with the result of three litters of cubs. The first litter was born in December 2004. TWO DAYS after the cubs were born, they were removed from their mother, to be raised by humans and bottle fed, to socialize them with humans and allow them to be handled for entertainment purposes for other interactive zoos and sanctuaries and possible as private pets.

THE TRUTH: YES THERE WERE BABIES BACK IN 2004. THEY WERE CONTRACTED TO A USDA ORGANIZATION WHO WANTED THE WHOLE LITTER. WE PULLED THEM AND THEY WERE GIVEN TO THE OTHER ZOO. TO A ZOO. AND BECAUSE SOME PEOPLE DID NOT LIKE THAT, WE STOPPED BREEDING AFTER THAT! JUST TO APPEASE GOSSIPING HATERS?! ZOO’S BREED FOR OTHER ZOO’S ALL THE TIME. GENERALLY GETTING POSITIVE FUN LOVING PRESS FROM IT. WHY IS THIS AN ATTACK? OTHER THAT TO JUST TRY TO CAUSE TROUBLE? PERIOD.

Removing those cubs distressed the mother leopard Mirage and upset her mate Oscar. That same day, Oscar attacked one of the volunteers who came into the cage to care for him, resulting in serious injuries that required the care of emergency room treatment.

YEP. IT HAPPENED. I WAS WALKING UP ONE HILL TO TELL THE CREW WE HAD BABIES, AND NOT TO GO INTO CAGES, OR EVEN THAT AREA. THEY WERE COMING DOWN OTHER HILL TO FEED AND CLEAN. IT HAPPENED. THIS IS WORKING WITH EXOTICS. WE HAVE LOCKOUTS FOR THESE GUYS NOW. NEVER EVER GOING IN WITH THE LEOPARDS.

END QUOTE

_____

Even while admitting to the above, she still chose to lie about: 1) Only being one litter bred from Mirage and Oscar. There were three litters born. 2) The “whole litter” of two cubs did NOT go to the same zoo. One (Bagheera) went to Bill Meadows at Tiger Safari in Tuttle, OK, and the other remained at Safari’s (Amadeus), as documented by many photos taken and posted online of Amadeus, who was raised by and then went to live permanently with Kurt Beckelman, Safari’s park manager for many years up through the present. This has been carefully documented, in previous post on this page, which I am including in this post for the second time, for ease of access to readers:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.428799703864388.1073741826.375092402568452&type=1

AZA accredited zoos in the US when breeding cubs—not one would think of removing cubs from their mother at two days of age to send off to another zoo. A recent, local example of breeding large felids by an accredited zoo is the two jaguar cubs born at the Tulsa Zoo in April 2012. Their mother Ixchel nursed and raised them. This breeding was carefully planned through the Species Survival Plan. They will stay at the Tulsa Zoo until they are of mature breeding age.

http://www.tulsazoo.org/contact-the-tulsa-zoo/media/press-releases/first-jaguar-cubs-born-at-tulsa-zoo/

The Tulsa Zoo did have an endangered Malayan tiger birth in 2012 to first-time mother Jin. After 24 hours from the birth, Jin lost interest and left the cub alone for several hours (not uncommon for first-time tiger mothers, according to the zoo). The newborn cub was removed to be examined and have blood work done. Based on concern about lack of maternal care, Berani the cub was hand raised for six weeks before it then went to live at Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma, Washington, to become foster brothers with another tiger cub and learn how to be a tiger in a safe environment.

http://www.tulsazoo.org/contact-the-tulsa-zoo/media/press-releases/beranis-big-adventure

In both of these instances at the Tulsa Zoo, the number one priority for breeding these large felids was survival of the species. After the births, the number one concern was for the health and well-being of the mothers and their cubs.

At Safari’s—one of the (formerly) USDA approved “zoos” that Lori mentions, the choices made for breeding and hand raising cubs were commercial—to create babies for sale or trade to be used at zoos for entertainment purposes—to draw in the public to the parks to see the babies and, at some interactive zoos, possibly handle them or have photos taken with them. This is NOT against the law. However, it does contradict what Lori has said is the mission of Safari’s and disputes her frequent assertions that she does not buy or breed the animals at Safari’s—that all are rescues. This is defrauding the public, keeping people uninformed about what activities their donations of money and time are really going toward. Why does Lori misrepresent these activities—keeping them hidden, if they are legal? Because she knows that some people would not approve. By representing the park as an all-rescue facility, she will gain more sympathy and financial and volunteer support.

There are conflicting reports on whether or not Jon was informed to stay away from the leopard cages that day. Lori states that the staff were not informed in time (in her comment posted above), one former staff member remembers that night Jon was specifically instructed to keep away because Mirage was agitated by having her cubs removed but he ignored those instructions, and another former staff member states that both Jon and Kurt told her the following week that Jon had been told to clean those cages and he was following instructions that night.

Regardless of whether or not management was responsible for instructing Jon to clean the leopard cages or told him to stay away from them, we do know that the leopard bite was reported as a dog bite to ER personnel.

With Lori’s long history of not telling the truth and passing blame to someone else, it’s not difficult to believe that she might misrepresent the facts of that night, just as she did after the liger attack that resulted in the death of Peter Getz. Lori said in 2008 that safety protocols were in place and PETE did not follow them, without ever revealing to the public the important fact that Kurt Beckelman was with Pete feeding the big cats that day and KURT was the one who opened the gate for Pete to throw the deer carcass into the liger’s enclosure. Nor did she or Kurt admit that, even though a catwalk was already in place to safely feed the liger, there were times when it was NOT used. The day Pete was attacked was not the first time the gate to the enclosure was opened to feed the liger.You can read Lori’s recent comments in full, posted to the March 8, 2013, article here:

http://www.kjrh.com/dpp/news/local_news/broken_arrow/Safaris-Animal-Sanctuary-in-Broken-Arrow-is-looking-for-donations-and-volunteers

And you can also read Mike Ensign’s comments posted to that article, as well. Mike is Lori’s brother who lives out of state. You might find a family ‘resemblance’ in the way they communicate with others.You can read the full text of her ‘End of a Relationship Post’ with all her comments in one essay below (and see the screen caps of the post in the photo album attached to this post).In a new post later this week, we will address the full remarks of Lori’s and identify the lies told within them.

_____

Lori wrote:

QUOTE

Lies and twisted sick truths of people with no life. THIS IS LONG AND BORING – I THINK – BUT IT’S ANSWERS IF YOU WONDERED… You know you’ve “made it” when you have haters! I’ve been doing rescue for 18 official years, and exotics unofficially since I was 18. I’m not perfect. I make mistakes. But most of my biggest mistakes are the people who I have allowed in my world. I trust all. Which in the “good world” is a good thing. But there are worse predators out there than ANY lion or tiger. People who thrive on hurt, lies, manipulation, and the ruthless sense of power. I generally do not give ANY response to this people, for they thrive on reaction, and gain power from hurt. But I have been getting lots of posts from friends that don’t understand my methods. For one, I refuse to pay to sue a person, use good money on a bad person. Hence giving them more joy and power, and wasting more of my time to prove their stupidity. I will address these haters – most being the same person under aliases to give her multiple personalities someone to talk to. Here is the real truth page addressing the lies on her “truth page”. If that isn’t twisted in itself?! Until I hear from so many of you – I have these crazies “blocked” so I don’t read the crap. But when everyone keeps bringing it up – I get sick of responding over and over individually… so here goes.. her twisted posts and my responses in CAPS. JolieAdams aka Ivy Cooper — FORMER VOLUNTEER OF WHICH WE LET GO. SHE BLATANTLY THRIVES ON PLAYING WITH PEOPLES LIVES. LAUGHS AND ENJOYS THIS. HAS NO JOB, STAY HOME MOM, WITH ALL DAY TO PLAY ON COMPUTER, AND GET A POWER TRIP BY THESE GAMES. Her attack & lies: Lori Ensign-Scroggins lied about the circumstances surrounding intern Peter Getz’s death in 2008, resulting from the liger attack at Safari’s Sanctuary. It was normal procedure to open many of the big cats’ enclosures to feed them, even go inside the cage right near the big cats, not separated from them, to feed them and clean their cage. We have photo proof of it, which was sent to the USDA more two months ago, that this behavior never changed–they continue to feed in reckless and dangerous ways. WE DO GO IN WITH SOME EXOTICS, ARE BUILDING LOCKOUTS FOR THEM ALL, BUT THE ONES WE RAISED ARE STILL SWEETHEARTS, AND ONLY A FEW OF US TRAINED PERSONS DO THIS… WE ONLY GO IN WITH A HANDFUL OF CATS WE RAISED. WE DO NOT TRAIN NEW PEOPLE TO DO THIS, AS WE ARE BUILDING LOCKOUTS AND ALL WILL BE HANDLED THIS WAY AS WE CHANGE. THIS IS NOT AGAINST THE LAW. YOU HAVE PROOF? I POST THE PICTURES, AND EXPLAIN EACH ISSUE DAILY! PROOF OF WHAT? ME LOVING THESE ANIMALS? THE PETER GETZ INCIDENT WAS GOING IN WITH ONE OF THE EXCLUDED ONES THAT NO ONE IS ALLOWED TO GO IN WITH, AND A LOCKOUT HAS BEEN BUILT FOR HIM FOR YEARS, WAY BEFORE THE INCIDENT. AND ON THAT DAY, HE CHOSE NOT TO USE IT, TO HIS DEMISE, AND HEARTBREAK OF ALL OF US. IT SHOULD HAVE NEVER HAPPENED, AGAINST ALL PROTOCOL. AND WIL HAUNT US FOR LIFE. AS WITH GETTING BEHIND THE WHEEL OF A CAR, YOU KNOW THE SPEED LIMIT, YOU KNOW THE PROPER ROADS TO TAKE, YOU KNOW THE RULES. BUT SOME PEOPLE CHOOSE TO SPEED IN EXCESS OF SAFE LIMITS, CHOOSE TO GO OFFROAD, CHOOSE TO DRINK AND DRIVE, CHOOSE TO THINK THEY ARE ABOVE THE LAW. THAT CHOICE SOMETIMES HAS BAD CONSEQUENSES. DOES THAT MEAN “DON’T DRIVE?” Her attack & lies: This is why the park will never be re-licensed by the USDA while Lori and her key staff are connected to it in any way whatsoever. Take a look for yourself. THIS IS A LIE. I GAVE UP MY LICENSE WILLINGLY. I COULD HAVE CONTINUED, BUT I PHYSICALLY CANNOT DO ALL THAT I COULD DO 10-15 YEARS AGO, DUE TO MY DEBILITATING DISEASE OF MULTIPLE SCHLEROSIS. STRESS DRIVEN IN PART BY USDA AND SICK PEOPLES GAMES. THE WAY THE USDA OPERATES IS THIS… THEY COME ANNUALLY FOR INSPECTIONS, WRITE UP ANYTHING THEY INTERPRET AS OFFENSIVE. REFLECTING ON A VAGUE RULE BOOK THAT CAN BE INTERPRETED MANY WAYS. EXAMPLE: Structure; construction. Housing facilities for dogs and cats must be designed and constructed so that they are structurally sound. They must be kept in good repair, and they must protect the animals from injury, contain the animals securely, and restrict other animals from entering. WRITTEN UP FOR RUST ON PAINTED METAL… IT HAPPENS, WE ARE IN HUMIDITY OKLAHOMA! WE FIX THIS, BUT IT CONTINUALLY HAPPENS – WE PAY EXTRA FOR RUSTOLEUM, STILL HAPPENS. THESE SIMPLE WRITE UPS HAPPEN. LOOK AT ANY ZOO, EVEN TULSA ZOO HAS PAGES OF WRITEUPS. THEN EVERY 5-6 YEARS THEY ADD THEM ALL UP, AND CREATE AN INVESTIGATION, THEN CITE YOU, YOU PAY GENERALLY $1000 PER WRITEUP MINIMUM. IT DOES ADD UP. IT WAS TIME FOR OUR 5-6 YEAR INVESTIGATION, AND I WAS ALREADY LOOKING TO LETTING A YOUNGER HEALTHIER CREW TO TAKE OVER, FOR MY MS WAS TAKING OVER. BUT I JUST WASN’T 100% READY TO LET GO –NOT THAT I’LL EVER BE READY TO LET A BUSINESS THAT I HAVE STARTED, AND RUN FOR 18 YEARS OF ALL MY LIFE PASSIONS AND SAVINGS –JUST LET GO- BECAUSE OF ILLNESS. THESE HATERS JUST TOOK A WEAK SITUATION, AND TURNED IT INTO AN OBSESSION FROM JEALOUSY. I’M ONLY 45. IT IS VERY HARD TO ADMIT THAT I CANT DO IT ANYMORE. I USED TO DO EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING! I HAVE HAD A FULL LIFE OF EXPERIENCES THAT MOST ONLY DREAM OF, TRAVEL, MODELING, RACING CARS, EXOTIC ANIMALS, AWESOME JOBS, AT ONE POINT LOTS OF MONEY —WHICH ALLOWED ME TO START THIS RESCUE. MANY PEOPLE ARE JEALOUS OF THINGS I’VE DONE. I LOOK BACK AND CAN’T BELIEVE IT MYSELF. NOW MARRIED TO A GREAT GUY WHO FLYS FOR FREE, SO WHEN I GET TIME OFF, WE FLY AWAY INSTEAD OF STICKING AROUND HOME… IT’S JUST AS FREE TO GO TO HAWAII AS IT IS TO GO TO ARKANSAS. HELLO?? WHICH WOULD YOU DO? ANYWAY – M.S. WHAT IS IT? THAT’S HARD TOOO. IT IS AN INDVISIBLE ILLNESS FOR THE MOST PART. YOUR BODY IS ATTACKING ITS OWN CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM. IN MY CASE, IT MAKES BODY PARTS GO NUMB, LOOSE FEELING, LOOSE CONTROL. I HAVE LESION ON MY BRAIN AND SPINE. AS STRESSES INCREASE, MS ATTACKS IN “EPISODES”. AN EPISODE CAN LAST A DAY, WEEK, MONTH… THEN EACH ATTACK LEAVES PERMANENT DAMAGE. YOU NEVER FULLY REGENERATE. THE SPINE LESIONS ARE AFFECTING MY LEFT SIDE, MOSTLY LEFT LEG AND HAND. CAUSING UNCONTROLLABLE STIFFNESS, CRAMPING, NUMBNESS, LACK OF CONTROL. THE BRAIN PART AFFECTS MY THOUGHT PROCESS AND SPEECH. WHICH ITS ALL ABOUT CONNECTIONS, MY BRAIN IS THINKING SOMETHING, BUT IT DOESN’T GET TO MY MOUTH TO SAY, OR SHOW IT. MY THOUGHTS GET JUMBLED UP, AND I GET ALL FRUSTRATED AND CONFUSED. THIS IS NOT GOOD! YOU CANNOT SEE ANY OF IT. SO I APPEAR NORMAL, EXCEPT THE LIMPING (MORE ON SOME DAYS THAN OTHERS)… CLUMSINESS, STUMBLING, DROPPING THINGS. I ACTUALLY LOOK DRUNK! THIS IS MULTIPLE SCHLEROSIS FOR ME. I NO LONGER FEEL I CAN DO SAFARIS JUSTICE, AND IF I HAVE ANOTHER “EPISODE” THE DOCTORS PREDICT IT “COULD BE THE ONE” THAT PUTS ME IN WHEELCHAIR. COULD RUIN MY SPEECH, THOUGHTS, CONTROL. WITH THAT POTENTIAL WEIGHING ON ME, I CANNOT BE IN CHARGE OF 200+ LIVES! I HAVE TO FIND SOMEONE TO TAKE THIS ON, CONTINUE THIS GREAT MISSION TO THE NEXT LEVEL— I’VE STARTED IT. BROUGHT IT THIS FAR, NOW TAKE IT AND RUN! THAT IS WHAT I AM HOPING FOR. ME AND MY FAMILY HAVE PUT HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OVER 18 YEARS INTO CREATING THIS. WHY SHOULD IT DIE, BECAUSE OF THIS DISEASE?? THE ANSWER IS “IT MUST CONTINUE!”. WITH OR WITHOUT ME, I JUST GOT IT GOING… JolieAdams QUOTE: Lori Ensign-Scroggins bred two of Safari’s black African leopards Mirage and Oscar, with the result of three litters of cubs. The first litter was born in December 2004. TWO DAYS after the cubs were born, they were removed from their mother, to be raised by humans and bottle fed, to socialize them with humans and allow them to be handled for entertainment purposes for other interactive zoos and sanctuaries and possible as private pets. THE TRUTH: YES THERE WERE BABIES BACK IN 2004. THEY WERE CONTRACTED TO A USDA ORGANIZATION WHO WANTED THE WHOLE LITTER. WE PULLED THEM AND THEY WERE GIVEN TO THE OTHER ZOO. TO A ZOO. AND BECAUSE SOME PEOPLE DID NOT LIKE THAT, WE STOPPED BREEDING AFTER THAT! JUST TO APPEASE GOSSIPING HATERS?! ZOO’S BREED FOR OTHER ZOO’S ALL THE TIME. GENERALLY GETTING POSITIVE FUN LOVING PRESS FROM IT. WHY IS THIS AN ATTACK? OTHER THAT TO JUST TRY TO CAUSE TROUBLE? PERIOD. Removing those cubs distressed the mother leopard Mirage and upset her mate Oscar. That same day, Oscar attacked one of the volunteers who came into the cage to care for him, resulting in serious injuries that required the care of emergency room treatment. YEP. IT HAPPENED. I WAS WALKING UP ONE HILL TO TELL THE CREW WE HAD BABIES, AND NOT TO GO INTO CAGES, OR EVEN THAT AREA. THEY WERE COMING DOWN OTHER HILL TO FEED AND CLEAN. IT HAPPENED. THIS IS WORKING WITH EXOTICS. WE HAVE LOCKOUTS FOR THESE GUYS NOW. NEVER EVER GOING IN WITH THE LEOPARDS. Lori has bred exotics at the park and purchased, sold, and traded them, for years, IN DIRECT CONTRADICTION to her repeated statements and official website stating that all of the animals at Safari’s are rescued. I RESCUE. 90% OF MY ANIMALS ARE RESCUE. I ALSO LOVE ANIMALS, OBVIOUSLY, SO I DID PURCHASE A COUPLE FOR MY ENJOYMENT. THAT IS NOT AGAINST ANY LAW. I LOVE ANIMALS! THAT IS ACTUALLY A GOOD THING. JolieAdams QUOTE: Many pseudo sanctuaries do the same thing but they are up front with people about it. That’s the difference. NO. ACTUALLY IT IS NOT. PSEUDO SANCTUARIES TELL YOU THEY RESCUE, WHEN 80% OF THEIR ANIMALS ARE OF THEIR OWN MAKING. THAT IS A LIE. Donors, supporters, and the general public should know the truth. Lori pretends to care about these animals. COME VOLUNTEER. COME SEE MY LIE. NO ONE LEAVES DOUBTING WHAT WE DO. EXCEPT JEALOUS PEOPLE WHO NEVER HAD THE DRIVE TO GO OUT ON A LIMB AND TRY TO DO SOMETHING WITH THEIR LIFE OTHER THAT BE A MARTYR. IT IS EASY TO SIT AT HOME AND TYPE ON A COMPUTER BAD THINGS ABOUT OTHERS, AND NOT GET OUT OF YOUR PAJAMAS. MAKES YOU FEEL GOOD ABOUT YOURSELF, FOR YOUR GUILT FOR NOT DOING ANYTHING POSITIVE WITH YOUR LIFE. I HAVE MADE MISTAKES. BUT I WENT OUT THERE AND I TRIED TO HELP SOLVE A PROBLEM. WHAT I KNEW WAS A GROWING PROBLEM FOR MANY PEOPLE AND SOCIETY. I KNOW I HAVE HELPED THOUSANDS OF ANIMALS. I HAVE REACHED HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WITH MY MISSION. I AM SORRY THAT I COULD NOT REACH A FEW UNREACHABLES. WOULD I CHANGE A THING? A FEW. BUT THE MAJORITY… HELL NO! I AM PROUD OF WHAT I HAVE DONE, AND FRUSTRATED THAT I PHYSICALLY CANNOT DO IT ANYMORE. MISS JOLIE, MISS IVY CAMPBELL… WHOEVER YOU ARE TODAY. THIS IS MY RESPONSE. IF YOU DON’T LIKE IT, POST AWAY. BUT I HAVE TOLD YOU MANY TIMES…… IF YOU THINK YOU CAN DO IT BETTER… COME ON OVER. HERE IS YOUR CHANCE. TRY. I UNDERSTAND THOSE PAJAMAS ARE COMFY, AND THOSE TWINKIES ARE GREAT. STAY IN BED AND BASH ME… I HAVE LIVED MY LIFE, AND I’M PROUD. WHAT ARE YOU PROUD OF? Lori Ensign-Scroggins From here on, I will continue to block you haters, and hope all you good people out there do too. I have just wasted an hour of my time I could have been with my animals…. Grrrrr Any one have any questions, just email me, call me, come volunteer and see for yourself! Have a grrrreat day!

END QUOTE

Mar 7 2013

AFTER THE LIGER ATTACK AT SAFARI’S SANCTUARY: IVY’S STORY

I have been asked on many different occasions why it took me so long to speak up about Safari’s/Lori Ensign, or what happened to get me to where I am just now speaking up about things involving her and/or the park. Here is my story……….

All supporting documents and photos to this blog post are available to read at Safari’s Truth Destination Facebook page through this link:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.430088733735485.1073741827.375092402568452&type=1

Image

I am assuming most of you have read my USDA affidavit by now, and know what happened what really happened that horrible day that Pete was attacked—not Lori’s false version of events (if not, you should read those three pages in the photo album attached to this post before reading more of this story). This is what happened afterwards……..

The night of the attack, my husband and I made it to the hospital, and before I could even get up to the waiting room, Kurt Beckelman (Safari’s park manager) met me downstairs and handed me a piece of paper with a name “Jonathan” on it and a phone number. He told me he was from out of Africa and that he could help me feed and take care of the park for a couple of weeks till things calmed down. I, still being in shock from earlier that day, thought I was going to be working with a guy from Africa. I asked Kurt if he spoke English, and Kurt said “Yes, he is from out of Africa.” I was still thinking the guy was from Africa and couldn’t get a clear understanding from Kurt. I had no idea that there was a sanctuary in Arizona that was called Out Of Africa….till the next day!

I made it up to the waiting room, and Lori asked me if I could pick up Pete’s sister and other family members, which I did. I don’t remember much of that ride to the airport nor back to the hospital. I think the ride back to the hospital with Pete’s family was quiet. I was still in shock, and Lori had admonished me earlier not to talk about the liger attack with the family, that she wanted be the one to discuss it with them.

Waiting around in the waiting room for news was awful. Tons of people were there, and Lori was on and off the TV giving interviews. Pete’s family was in his hospital room with him all of the time. Friends were in the waiting area. There were lots of hugs being given out, and lots of people crying. Most everyone at Safari’s who wanted to see Pete was able to go in to see him, one at a time. I wanted to visit with him, too, but I was prevented from doing so. My husband even asked Kurt if I could go back and see him. Kurt just ignored him. When I asked Lori, she informed me that since Pete and I were not close friends, I didn’t need to go back there to see him, even though I was the one to keep him alive till the ambulance got there! [Now I understand the most likely reasoning behind Lori and Kurt keeping me away from Pete and his family—to keep his family from learning about what really happened before, during, and after the liger attack. It is also possible that Lori was already contemplating placing the blame for the attack on me (the meaning of this comment will be made clear later in this story). Lori did know what had happened during the big cat feedings and the attack on Peter because when Kurt was talking to her on the phone to tell her about the emergency, I was close by performing CPR on Pete to keep him alive, and one of the parents from the tour group was on the phone at the same time speaking with the 911 operator. Lori left work immediately after getting the news and rushed to Safari’s, whisking Kurt away from the scene shortly after EMSA arrived.]

I remember I sat down on a sofa, and Kurt laid his head in my lap, and we fell asleep together, shortly after hubby waking me up to make sure I was ok, because he wanted to admit me because I had been giving CPR to Pete, and I was covered in blood, also I had been in shock. I stayed a few more hours after that, but there wasn’t much for me to do, so my husband took me home for the night. It wasn’t till the next morning when I was going through my blood-stained clothes that I realized that I had been wearing Pete’s green, zippered hoodie, and my jeans were ruined. Going through the pockets of the jeans, I found at least $200, not knowing how it got there. I had given the tour group’s money back to them before they left, after the tour was ended abruptly because of the attack on Pete. I had suggested to the teachers and parents to buy the kids some ice cream and take them to a park or something, to make up for it. My husband informed me that he thought he saw Lori and her mom slip something in my back pocket as they were giving me hugs, but didn’t think anything of it. This was fine, because Lori had actually owed me for two weeks back pay, as I was not a volunteer but a paid employee. [I was hired in spring of 2001 at a rate of $9 an hour, as advertised in the Tulsa World job classifieds. Several key staff members were paid by Lori to work at Safari’s. The highest paid one that I knew of was Kurt, who bragged he made $800 per month while I worked there. We were paid as “contract labor.” I’m not sure how much of the park’s money went to Lori’s personal benefit. We were all told not to tell anyone we were paid to work at Safari’s because it would conflict with Lori’s statements that all staff at Safari’s were volunteers and that all money donated to the park went directly to the care of the animals. She still insists that’s the truth of how the park operates, but I suspect that some of the staff are still receiving payment for their work and keeping it quiet from the public.] Looking back, I wonder if there was another intention behind Lori and her mom giving me that money that way, at the hospital, when I later discovered they were not telling the truth about Pete’s attack and when I learned they were trying to blame me for it (again, more about that later in this story).

That next morning (the day after the attack), I called Jonathan and asked him if he wanted to help me work the park. He agreed, and I picked him up. He told me about the sanctuary in Arizona called Out of Africa, and I laughed and told him I thought he was from the country Africa. Let me tell you, that man Jonathan, knew things I never learned in my 10 years of working at Safari’s! He knew his stuff. He knew the animals, and taught me so very many things! That first day just blew my mind! He also informed me that a few months before the attack, he came to Safari’s and was a paid guest, and Kurt was his tour guide. Jonathan said he had informed Kurt that someone was going to get hurt if they kept doing what they were doing. I remember him (Jonathan) shaking his head when he’d find a big problem and saying “I told him someone was gonna get hurt!”

Jonathan and I worked the park for about two weeks or so, with him teaching me numerous things. He and I came up with safety protocols and new observation methods, and made a list of stuff that should be dealt with ASAP. I was informing Lori of these changes as we went along, to which all she ever said was “if it makes it easier.” I just bumped that off because she was so busy with the media and Pete’s death. At the time, I didn’t realize she couldn’t be bothered or care less. I didn’t realize it, but I was pretty isolated from everyone but Jonathan. When Jonathan couldn’t help me, I had Kim Cooper, a volunteer for Safari’s, help me out. Then, one day, Kurt came back to work the park, and I was so happy to have the help, because it’s very hard for only two people to run that large of a park! I talked with Stacy (Lori’s husband) and told him I would prefer if Kurt stayed away from the big cats, and feed barnyard 1 and 2 instead. That worked great for a few days, until one day I noticed Kurt chopping up the meat for the big cats, and I thanked him for helping out. He informed me that he was going to feed the big cats. I asked him if Lori said it was okay for him to do that, and he looked at me and told me that it was okay with her, and he needs to do this to get past his issues. I informed him we don’t use the golf carts to feed the cats anymore, because the cats know that the carts are associated with food, and that we now use the cat walk, and we walk buckets down the hill to feed the others in cages in enclosures without cat walks. He informed me that the old way is how it has been done for years, and that is how it is going to stay, and no one has time to feed off the catwalk or walk up and down the hill a hundred times. We argued about it for a few minutes, until Jonathan stepped in and said to me “If he wants to kill himself, let him go ahead and do it. My advice to you, Ivy, is we see how this plays out just this once and make our decision afterwards.” Even though I had worked that park for 10 years, I knew when someone was more knowledgeable and more experienced then I was, so I took his advice. We helped Kurt feed the old way that day. After we were through feeding the big cats, Jonathan informed me that if Lori allows Kurt to continue to take care of the big cats, he does not want to come back ever. That night, I emailed Lori, and you can find a copy of my Nov. 15, 2008, email here:

https://www.facebook.com/notes/safaris-truth-destination/this-is-an-email-that-ivy-cook-sent-to-lori-kurt-jan-and-paul-just-three-weeks-a/376945389049820

Let’s just say, Lori’s response wasn’t pretty:

https://www.facebook.com/notes/tombbringer-crazed-sinnerspirit/email-from-loriobviously-she-did-not-understand-what-i-wrote-hertook-it-as-an-at/10151185762280857

[You can read more emails sent from and to me related to Safari’s during that time period in the NOTES section of this Facebook page.]

I tried one last time to get her to change how things were done at the park. I even let her know the new things we were doing, that were safer and better. She wanted nothing to do with anything I said. I had no choice, with Kurt scaring the hell out of me during feeding that day, and Jonathan refusing to continue to volunteer there because of safety concerns, and Lori basically telling me that nothing is going to change, and that I was a problem: I quit. I could not jeopardize my life, or get hurt. I’m a mother and wife first before I am a zookeeper. I was never paid for the last few weeks I worked at Safari’s. That $200 back pay (or whatever it was meant to be for), slipped in my pocket at the hospital by Lori and her mother, was the last payment I received from them. I was still owed approximately $500 in salary by the time I quit.

A couple of weeks later, I got a phone call from my attorney asking me a bunch of questions about Lori and Safari’s, and the day Pete died. I answered them honestly. He asked me if there were witnesses who could verify my story, and I laughed and told him about 50 preschool children and 20 adults that were with the tour group! He informed me that Lori was trying to sue me for wrongful death of Pete and that with the information I just gave him, she doesn’t have grounds to stand on. I couldn’t believe it! Lori was attempting to put the blame on me for Pete’s death, when I had nothing to do with the cause of the attack—not being present when it actually occurred because I was busy leading the tour. Kurt was the one who was with Pete, feeding the big cats that day. Kurt was the one who opened the gate to the Rocky the liger’s enclosure. [Contrary to Lori’s assertions to the public, the media, and the USDA, it was common for Safari’s staff to open most of the big cats’ enclosures, even Rocky’s, to feed them (still done to this day, if you look at photos we’ve posted on this page recently). If lock-outs were available, sometimes they’d get used but when in a hurry, then not—even when feeding Rocky. Rocky’s neighbor next door was the tiger Twister, who had an aversion to men in ball caps because his owner who abused him often wore one. Pete always wore a ball cap, which pissed off Twister. This animosity toward Pete rubbed off on Rocky, who ‘hated’ Pete. Almost everyone, including Kurt, knew how Rocky felt about Pete. It was one more reason that Kurt should never have opened the gate for him and Pete to feed Rocky that day.]

I went about my life, taking care of my family, and enjoyed being a stay-at-home mom. One day, I got a phone call from a friend, informing me that the USDA was looking for me. This was in 2011, almost two-and-a-half years after I quit. I asked her, “Why would they be looking for me?” My friend informed me that the USDA heard that I was out at the park the day Pete was attacked and wanted my statement. Apparently, Lori and Kurt never informed the USDA that I was on the scene immediately after the mauling attack and helped keep Pete alive until the ambulance service arrived. I simply emailed them the USDA to let them know who I was and that I heard they wanted to speak with me. The very next morning, on March 15, 2011, I had a USDA officer meet with me who took my statement. It took all day! I had no clue what was going on or the lies Lori and Kurt had told them. You can find my USDA affidavit on this page (in the photo album attached to this post) if you care to read it.

I did get back in touch with Kurt, because he was my best friend and even gave me away at my wedding. I loved that man so very much. I took my family out to see him at his house, and tried to reconnect the friendship that had been shattered. After a couple of months, I realized that he would never be the man I once loved, that he had become just like Lori and had decided lies and deceit were the better path to follow in life. I was (and still am) done with all of that, and I couldn’t have that in my life any more. It took me a long time to admit it, but the friend I had once loved so much is now gone and had died along with Pete that fateful day.

People ask me how it was possible that I didn’t know what was going on, that it was all over the news with Lori falsely stating that Pete broke protocol during feeding time. It is very simple. I’m not much for television, and my husband is a big video gamer, so if the TV is on, he is usually playing his video games, or we are watching the history channel or the DIY network. So, honestly, I did not see the news coverage, and if it was on the radio, I seriously would change the station.

I was advised that I was to testify in court on the USDA’s behalf, but when the date got closer, I found out Lori took a deal and would shut the park down instead of going to court and try and battle it out. Then I learned that she was trying to blame the USDA and everyone else for her misfortune, which angered me, because she knows that it was her fault, but refuses to take responsibility, and still does to this day.

For those of you who ask me, “How can you do this to the animals?” it’s really very simple. Those animals do have other sanctuaries to go to. I have personally called around and lots of sanctuaries have offered to take them in and give them loving and good homes. And some of those animals are in such poor health and conditions that the only humane thing to do is put them down, but as I have heard, a lot of them are slowly dying off out there. It’s very sad, but if I let my love for those animals blind me to Lori’s lies and her poor, pitiful-me act, then nothing will ever change, and someone else is going to get hurt. I don’t want anyone else to go through what Pete, Kurt , or I have had to deal with. It may have happened years ago, but it still affects my life to this day, and I still have nightmares. I could not live with myself if I stepped back and did nothing.

For those of you who want to know why I stayed around the park for so many years and turned a blind eye to Lori’s corrupt ways, I am not going to lie to you. Those exotic and majestic animals get to you. It’s like an addiction; they pull you in and it’s hard to break away. I’m sure many people who have worked at Safari’s or still do work there can relate to that and it could explain why they, too, stick around, regardless of Lori’s behavior. I’d have to say the main reason I stayed is because Kurt kept begging me back, and Lori promised me pay (it’s a very long drive from where I live to Broken Arrow).

If you have any questions, you may contact me through a private message through the Safari’s Truth Destination Facebook page. (You might have to ‘like’ the page first, in order to do so.)

Thank you for your time and understanding.

Ivy Campbell Cook

Mar 4 2013

LEOPARD CUBS REMOVED FROM MOTHER TWO DAYS AFTER BIRTH

Take a close look at the interest that Mirage had in her newborn cubs. After carrying them in her womb for 3-1/2 months, she was only allowed to keep them with her for two days, before they were taken away to be bottle fed and accustomed to human handling, preparing them for their future as public entertainers.Still think that Lori Ensign-Scroggins primary motivation in running the park is "for the love of the animals" ? — at Safari's Sanctuary Zoo.

Take a close look at the interest that Mirage had in her newborn cubs. After carrying them in her womb for 3-1/2 months, she was only allowed to keep them with her for two days, before they were taken away to be bottle fed and accustomed to human handling, preparing them for their future as public entertainers.
Still think that Lori Ensign-Scroggins primary motivation in running the park is “for the love of the animals” ? — at Safari’s Sanctuary Zoo.

Baby leopards were bred by Lori Ensign-Scroggins three times from the mating of Safari’s Sanctuary’s African leopards Mirage and Oscar. The first litter was born Dec. 9, 2004, on a beautiful 65-degree winter day. The two cubs remained with their mother ONLY TWO (2) DAYS before they were yanked from her, to be bottle fed by humans with the intention of socializing them, to make them more useful as entertainment and for photo ops for another “interactive” exotic animal sanctuary—Tiger Safari in Tuttle, Oklahoma, and for Safari’s Sanctuary in Broken Arrow.

Anyone who knows anything about mammals, knows how important for physical, mental, and emotional health of both the mother and the cubs for them to remain together, so that the babies can be nursed and nurtured, as nature intended. Leopard cubs are weaned at three months of age.

http://www.awf.org/content/wildlife/detail/leopard

A human mother can relate to the intense stress and emotional violation such an early separation between mother and child would cause both. In fact, it did in this circumstance, too, as the removal of the cubs upset Mirage and also the father Oscar, whose cage was right next door to hers. Later that day, when a volunteer went in to clean Oscar’s cage, Oscar attacked the volunteer and seriously injured him, requiring a visit to the emergency room. The incident was reported as a dog bite to the doctor (as was typical for animal injuries that were caused by Safari’s animals—to avoid reports to the USDA), but later someone did report it to the USDA, and the event was noted in the January 2005 USDA inspection report. [A full post on this leopard attack will be addressed in a separate post later this week.]

Not only were the cubs separated from their mother when they were two days old, but they were separated from each other when they were five days old, when Kurt took one of them (Amadeus) home with him to raise until the cub was older and returned to the park. Amadeus eventually went home to live with Kurt as his personal pet when he was a young adult. One of our sources reported that it was Kurt’s intention from the very beginning to keep Amadeus as his own.

The other cub was sold or traded by Lori to Bill Meadows at Tiger Safari in Tuttle, Oklahoma. He went to live in his new home when he was only two weeks old and started working in photo ops for the park when he was three months old. What is the difference between Bill Meadows and Lori Ensign-Scroggins? Bill doesn’t pretend he owns and runs a sanctuary that only rescues animals. He doesn’t even use the word sanctuary in the title of his park. He is unabashedly running an entertainment venue for folks to get close to animals, have parties with them in attendance, and get their photos taken next to them.

http://tigersafari.us/

Another exotic animal park in Oklahoma similar (but not the same) to Tiger Safari in the way it operates, in terms of purpose, is G. W. Exotic Animal Memorial Park (also known as The Gerold Wayne Interactive Zoological Park) in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, run by Joe Schreibvogel (aka ‘Joe Exotic’). Again, the name of the park does not state it is a sanctuary and the owner is not shy about informing the public he breeds exotic animals which go to zoos and sanctuaries.

http://www.gwzoo.org/

There’s no law against any of the above policies. They are both providing a service for humans, using animals, which many people want and agree with. It can even be argued that they are contributing to the welfare of the animals, not only in their day-to-day care of them, but by allowing humans to get close and learn about them, and perhaps encouraging them to go on to help animals in some form afterward.

Lori, on the other hand, has always said she only rescues animals. All animals at the park are rescued, she has stated time and again. It’s in news articles and on her website. [see our post from last month about her breeding leopards for links to many examples of these statements.] This is false and fraudulent. She often purchased, traded, and sold animals—for her park and for others like it—exploiting animals for human entertainment, not providing “sanctuary” for animals she rescues, as the word is defined. Her mission statement “for the love of the animals” is also a fraud. A glaring example of that is tearing apart two-day-old leopard cubs from their mother.

Lori will no doubt try to make excuses for this behavior in this instance. But there is no valid excuse. She took in Oscar, the male leopard, from Tom Harvey at Safari’s Zoological Park in Caney, KS, after Oscar’s mate died and Oscar went into a depression. It was hoped that by putting him in with Mirage—Safari’s female leopard acquired as a four-month-old cub from Larry and Kathy Armer of Bristow Wilderness Safari (which subsequently closed in 2007)–Oscar would begin to thrive again. And it worked. This was a conscious choice to put two young adult, intact animals together, where offspring would be the likely result. (In fact, one condition of Oscar coming to live at Safari’s was that if there were cubs born, one would go to Tom Harvey at Safari’s Zoological Park in Kansas. We do not know why he didn’t get one of the cubs from the first litter.)

If Lori was not in the position to house a mother leopard AND HER CUBS TOGETHER safely, from their perspective and from the staff’s, then she should have declined the request made for the match. Lori also had a choice of ensuring that adequate housing for Mirage and potential cubs was constructed as soon as possible after putting together the two adult leopards, to be ready with the necessary lockout for staff to feed and clean the cage safely, separated from the mother and her cubs. The gestation period is 106 days (3-1/2 months) for an African leopard—more than enough time to construct a suitable structure in preparation of possible cubs.

We know that Mirage must have been an adequate, and likely completely successful, mother because there were two more litters of leopards born to her. If her cubs from the first litter were in danger from her or neglected by her, a responsible manager/owner would have prevented any further fruitful matings between Oscar and Mirage by having Mirage spayed and/or Oscar neutered or keeping them caged separately. Lori’s intent was not to breed endangered animals to place in accredited zoos that are protecting the species. African leopards, while nearing a threatened status, are not rare or endangered. The cubs were not placed in AZA accredited zoos. They were bred for entertainment—to bring the public in to animal parks as money makers. And to make Lori money or result in new animals for Safari’s (to bring in more of the public to see them and thereby increase money from admissions) in trade for the cubs.

In the case of Amadeus (and perhaps other cubs), the breedings added to the pet exotic animal ownership, in direct contradiction to one of the stated education missions of Lori and Safari’s– to discourage people from acquiring exotic animals as pets.

http://www.safaripark.org/ (where Oscar came from)

http://www.visitbristowok.com/attractions.htm (Bristow Wilderness Safari (closed since 2007) – where Mirage came from)

See more photos and screen caps of evidence through this link to a post on Safari’s Truth Destination on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.428799703864388.1073741826.375092402568452&type=1

Mar 2 2013

A Response to Lori’s latest Retirement Rant

Lori Ensign-Scroggins, owner of Safari’s, posted a long essay titled “Retirement” on Facebook last night (Sunday, March 3, 2013), bemoaning her past and current plights, pointing fingers at a long list of others for her problems (as usual), and hoping someone will come save the day for her—even if only with a few bucks.

screen cap of Lori Ensign-Scroggins' retirement speech posted on FB page March 3, 2013

Copied below are excerpts of what she actually posted and below each section, is some of the background knowledge I have from my personal experience of working at Safari’s with Lori, for ten years–on and off, beginning in 2001. [The full text of her FB posted–also reposted on Craigslist advertising for volunteers–is at the end of this post, below.]

After reading this (and other posts on this page), you might be less likely to give her your money because of her sad story. – Ivy Cook

__________

Lori Ensign-Scroggins: “Doctor told me to quit working so much, and get a hobby, to help me relax. So I sold the city life, moved to the country in Broken Arrow. My hobby was animals, thought rescue would give me peace.”

Ivy Cook: “As far as I know, she married a man that was getting into having exotics as pets. With the help of local sanctuaries, they decided to open the park up to the public. Then, apparently, jealousy hit Lori hard because the media loved her husband’s face and his wisdom and tended to ignore her. The relationship became rocky, and she ended up divorcing that husband and taking half of the animals, while spreading horrible lies about him, with the likely intent of wanting the public to stay on her side and not on his. That is the real story of how she got involved with animals.”

LES: “I dove in head first, years passed by, but it was never peace, always a fight. But not ever a fight by the animals, but the humans. My mission didnt allow me to live a life too… people would get mad… so I lost friends. Then I tried to just have animal people friends,….some were friends, some just wanted to tag along, some just wanted to dissect everything I did wrong. SO I lost those friends. Didnt look back, kept going, the animals will always love me,didnt care about the non friends… take me or leave me….”

IC: “She lost friends because she led a wild life–lots of partying, drinking, and drugs. I can personally tell you that there was one party at the park where she promised me that there would be no children there, because adults would be drinking. Come to find out, she invited every teenager she could and supplied them with their own liquor! The next morning they were found drunk all over the park. Lori’s own father was beyond upset finding the children and the booze and used condoms everywhere. Children from the ages of 12 and up! She lost friends because of the poor decisions she made in how she ran the park and how she often treated people badly and told lies about them after the friendship or working relationship ended.

LES: “You know the animals, while in my care, are fat, happy, spoilt, never want for anything.”

IC: “As you have seen from your own eyes from pictures we have showed you, there are a lot of sick and unhealthy animals out there, due to poor diet and inadequate veterinary care. Though yes, some are morbidly overweight, we still cannot figure out why some are starved or in poor health, while others are lavished upon. I do know that animals have died because Lori refused to call the vet when they became gravely ill.

I could copy and paste her words about how the USDA kept messing with her, and if you care to read them, go ahead. I will simply tell you how it was. In 2001, I and another woman named Debra were hired as zookeepers at Safari’s, after answering a classified ad in the Tulsa World. In our training, we were both informed never to talk to USDA inspectors if they were ever to come to the park, or just ignore them if they were at the gate. Yes, there were repeat offenses, and some work was done to fix those problems, but never a decent and correct fix–always what was able just to get by. The USDA officers are licensed veterinarians. They know what to look for, and how to care for animals. Lori was not shut down because “she was a woman” as she stated. She wasn’t being picked on, they gave her YEARS…let me say that again…Y-E-A-R-S…..to fix all the problems the USDA officers found wrong at her park, and she refused to fix them properly. You can read in the USDA reports yourself where the officer would put “can see they are trying to work on this problem” but in the next report in a couple of months, they had stopped all work on that project. Because as we were told “as long as it looks like we are trying to fix it, they can’t say anything.” Lori got shut down because her park is falling apart, because the animals are sick and dying, because it is not safe for the public to be there, and because it’s not safe for anyone to be there, as we all found out when the manager Kurt Beckelman allowed for his own employee to get mauled by a liger back in 2008. That employee, Peter Getz, passed away from the traumatic wounds that were inflicted. Kurt Beckelman and Lori Ensign both LIED about what happened that day. You know why I know they lied about that day? Because I was there. I was the USDA’s main witness to help the USDA shut Safari’s down to the public. Why? I could not live with myself if I did nothing to prevent someone else from getting hurt. It became obvious, after many attempts to get things to change—to make the park safer for animals and the people who work there and visit—that Lori would never change. The recent photos we posted on this page of staff inside the cages of tigers and other large predator cats during feeding time is evidence that I was right in that assessment. Even a wrongful death at the park did nothing to change attitudes toward safety.

LES: “Here we are. I’m out of my savings, Safari’s is out of its winter donations, with no clue of when they can get their license.”

IC: It is all but impossible for a zoo/sanctuary to regain their USDA license after they have lost it. I have yet to find one place that was able to open back up to the public, because by the time the USDA shuts them down, it is too far gone and too many repairs are needed to be made which would require a fortune to be spent on it to get it back up to standards. Hence the reason the USDA gives them ample chances to fix problems and years to try and bring their park up to code. With Lori still connected to the management of Safari’s and living on the premises, it will never be run correctly or safely. It is in the best interests of the public that it remains closed until if and when another owner completely takes over the park and its animals.
______

Full text can be found in the posting Lori did on Craigslist:

http://tulsa.craigslist.org/vol/3657392497.html

QUOTE

This is my story, the ups and downs, but the real story of Safaris. You dont care about any other part really.

I was diagnosed with MS in 1995, working many jobs which allowed me to buy land and a home, new car, etc… But my many jobs which made me $$$ also exhausted my body… hence M.S. took over. Doctor told me to quit working so much, and get a hobby, to help me relax. So I sold the city life, moved to the country in Broken Arrow. My hobby was animals, thought rescue would give me peace.
I dove in head first, years passed by, but it was never peace, always a fight. But not ever a fight by the animals, but the humans. My mission didnt allow me to live a life too… people would get mad… so I lost friends. Then I tried to just have animal people friends,….some were friends, some just wanted to tag along, some just wanted to dissect everything I did wrong. SO I lost those friends. Didnt look back, kept going, the animals will always love me,didnt care about the non friends… take me or leave me….

So I just continued on…. finally finding a real man, that loved me. But he wasnt really into my hobby…. I kept him, cherished him, and we had 2 lives, me and safari —and me n my hubby… I couldnt hold that against him. But others did, so I lost more friends…. Kept going, very happy with having the animals love and having his love. But working so hard still to keep my hobby going… now the hobby that had rescued me and saved my life, now was wearing on my body and the MS started taking a stonger pesence. You know the animals, while in my care, are fat, happy, spoilt, never want for anything. Actually becoming old lions and tigers like me. While I feel I’m doing everything right by the animals, my soul, then the government starts a battle. My inspector, was a country boy, who always told me that “a woman could never run a zoo”, “just wont work”….. the stubborn, competitive part of ME, says… woah woah woah, I will show you! And I fought and argued with this man for 10 or so years…. he would come and just find things wrong, stupid things –mind you I made some mistakes, so YES a few writeups did need correcting, rebuilding cages, concreting floors, and I did…. but he still kept coming making sure I could never get a clean inspection. Started with weeds in a behind the zoo stuff, junk yard area, ok so I mowed…. but he never removed the writeup, even if corrected. Then rust on a fence, painted, still there…. then flies on produce received on a hot summer day, fixed it, we got more refrigerators, put away…. still the excess was there in dumpster waiting for pickup —oops still flies… I really got frustrated at the lack of concern, becoming harassment. I went off on him, wasnt nice, I admit, but I had taken all I could possibly take. Thought I’ll write to the USDA, and complain, invite them to come out, see the progress, and see that this is wrong. WELLLL you dont talk common sense to an organization without it. The USDA then started an investigation against me, trying to close me, because I was rude to their senior inspector —not even noting the harassment, sexual commenets….. I said OK, I’ll still fight. They made it rediculous. Dragging it out for years, I finally got an atty who offered to help me take em to court…. thinking we would get somewhere, I went with it, wrote pages and pages, books… on the writeups, and what really happened. So here we come onto court date, its been years weighing on me… Finally! I’m nervous but excited to get to tell my story. 3 days before date, the atty calls with we’re (he wasnt ready) not ready, he hadn’t met with any of my allies, my veterinarian, my game wardens, my people who knew what a great place we have…. just told me nothing good could come of court without proper statements from these people, and he had had family issues, where he hadnt had time to do this… another continuance was unacceptable…blablabla. Basically go to court and get hundreds of thousands in fines$$$$$ or give up my license. Sell or give the organization to my crew of interns…. With my declining health, I thougt, OK this could work. He sold me on this idea…. give or sell my zoo… so it can continue. Because if I was fined $250,000…. I would have to give up anyway, then Lord knows where the animals would go.

I gave up my license…. met with the interns, who seemed to be all excited on the opportunity. Made a deal to give them the organization, if they would put in the time, work, training….etc. I would retire, just keep my house until they made enough to buy my house… otherwise everything else was theirs. Stressed to them that it would not be easy, and never “make money” , but it was a work of the heart… enough to get by, and knowing that you’re saving lives, and educating kids, makes up for the riches… It was a plan…. I saved all year for the down time, while they got up to speed. But this generation of kids don’t really want to work…. they want to say I’m President of this Sanctuary, but I only wanna work 4-5 days a week, be off by 2pm, then ush to be off by 12 noon… and think they can do it all. Then we lost 2 of our 3 interns; one in a couple months -she worked hard for a couple months -then she wanted me to turn all my property over to her…. after 2 months. NO. So then down to 2, next girl made it couple more months… then wanted more time off, wanted to be the only TV personality, wanted pople to only talk to her, as she worked less and less…. so that didnt work. Now Im down to 1. She is working her butt off, but cannot do it alone… there are others who advise, and a family of hard workers with health problems, so they cannot stay….

Here we are. Im out of my savings, Safaris is out of its winter donations, with no clue of when they can get their license.

Do I wait on them to survive or fail? and let things go potentially down hill? Do I put it on the market, and see if there is a buyer with a family who can run this and reopen? Do I sell off animals one by one, and pray they go to loving places?
Now my hands are tied. I’m disabled. But feeling this mission of rescue is a heart felt necessity for people to see what PEOPLE are doing to our wildlife. These animals have no option of release to the wild. They expect room service, meals, playtime…. do not know how to live. Most have been altered to where they could not, even if they were trained to be wild, exist….declawed, neutered, defanged…
My heart and prayers tell me “something will come along” and take over. Or a buyer. Or …..

SOooooo here I am, praying for small donations to keep them fed….. knowing one month it wont be there. THEN WHAT?

Do you want to have a zoo? I have a crew to help you. OR Do you need tax write off so that our new crew can continue till they can open?
Do you want to just volunteer and help that way? <> This stress is just making me more and more disabled…. I want to help, but if the stress keeps on, I’ll be in wheelchair soon… and cant help at all.

DO YOU KNOW of anyone ??? Any corporation that would want the sponsorship, or an animal loving family wants the investment for a life of working what you love? Tell everyone and anyone you know…. and maybe someone might want to help. Some way, any way, small, large, take over….buy it…

I do not think this mission should be lost…. people are still out there buying these animals, with no idea what they are getting into. The education still needs to be out there!!! The place for these animals to go still needs to be out there!! Otherwise the breeding, ignorantly buying, then getting rid of them –will end up with all these innocent, misplaced animals killed! Please HELP. SHARE this message. Call us 918-357-5683

END QUOTE
___________

See original post and the photos and other documents attached to it, on Safari’s Truth Destination page on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.428753227202369.1073741825.375092402568452&type=1