PROMOTERS OUTLINE TIGER SANCTUARY PLAN

PERRYVILLE -- Bringing tigers to Perry County is as realistic an idea as residents want to make of it, a sponsor of the National Tiger Sanctuary said Thursday.

DePaul University spokesman Michael Gibbs would like to have a clear response from residents before Thanksgiving regarding placement of the sanctuary in the county's southwest corner. "During the next several weeks we will be looking at community reaction to this idea," said Gibbs, special assistant to the university's president. "If an overwhelming majority is opposed, we will look elsewhere."The idea is to construct a center for education and conservation unlike anything else for tigers presently existing, said Judy McGee, co-founder of Environmental Rescue in Independence. McGee's organization has been working with zoos and schools, assisting with fund raising and education about big cats for four years, she said. She has also served on DePaul University's board of trustee's, she said.

If the sanctuary were to come to Perry County, McGee and Keith Kinkade, Environmental Rescue's other founder, would relocate and live at the site, she said.

At the only public meeting held so far, one of the concerns expressed by those who live near the proposed sanctuary is a loss of their rural environment, said Michael Yamnitz, a member of the Perry County Commission. Of more than 120 who attended the public meeting Wednesday at a church in Yount, only six voiced strong opposition, Yamnitz said."This is out of a lot of people's comprehension," he said. "But now people understand better, and they will the more we talk about this."The sanctuary would have a visitor center, conservation facility, and indoor and outdoor viewing of tigers, Gibbs said. It would also provide a location for corporate retreats and overnight stays in cabins, a lodge or a campground, he said.

He stressed that all this would harmonize with the existing environment."We are not looking at building a 10-story building," Gibbs said.

Improving gravel roads that crisscross that corner of the county is another concern of residents. Presiding County Commissioner Tom Sutterer said this could be worked out.

Besides, the 100,000 people Gibbs expects the sanctuary to reach in its first year would not all be traveling to Perry County. A mobile tiger pen would transport the tigers to schools and other places to increase the sanctuary's educational outreach, he said.

The initial cost to construct the sanctuary would be $3 million, Gibbs said. It is expected to lose money in its first three years of operations and then become profitable, he said.

If the county's community accepts the sanctuary, groundbreaking would take place next spring with a grand opening of the facility a year or so later, Gibbs said.

The tiger sanctuary concept has been considered by DePaul University for about a year, Gibbs said. Sites in Texas, Arkansas, Illinois and Wisconsin have all been considered, but Perry County was the first to receive an offer."This area is ideal because it's a family destination area," Gibbs said. "People are coming and going along the interstate between Memphis, St. Louis, Chicago and other cities all the time."As for finding tigers for the sanctuary, Kinkade said zoos and refuges often end up with more tigers through breeding than they can care for. Developing the current population of over 6,000 captive tigers in the United States is vital considering they make up about half of the tigers left in the world, Gibbs said.

The chief outcomes that sponsors want from the tiger sanctuary are children understanding conservation issues at an early age and others becoming more aware of how human complacency and exploitation can hurt the environment, Gibbs said."Mankind has put tigers in this situation, and we need to understand that," McGee said.