Ste. Genevieve winery owner holding tiger sanctuary by the tail

STE. GENEVIEVE, Mo. -- A winery owner has added an unusual item to his holdings, and it's not a rare vintage: It's a tiger sanctuary.

Crown Valley Winery owner Joe Scott agreed this month to buy a tiger sanctuary not far from his Ste. Genevieve property.

Tours could begin next month. The tiger sanctuary, known as Discovery Ridge, has been closed to the public, as Keith Kinkade and his wife, Judy McGee, looked for funds to allow people to see the five Bengal tigers they keep.

But in recent weeks Scott stepped in, agreed to buy the tiger refuge for an undisclosed amount, and retained Kinkade and McGee as the tigers' keepers.

Kinkade and McGee have plans for a bed and breakfast on site, with an up-close and personal view of the big cats.

Earlier this year, Kinkade showed off a bed-and-breakfast room being built, the opening secured with steel bars. A ramp behind the wall will allow the five tigers to walk from their enclosure below and peer into the room through the bars and a strong glass window.

DePaul University of Chicago developed the 55-acre sanctuary for use as a field school for biology and environmental courses. But DePaul's trustees previously voted to sell it, saying it conflicts with the school's urban mission.

Kinkade and McGee rescued the five tigers -- four male tigers and another female from an Arkansas refuge as cubs nearly three years ago. Two of the cubs couldn't walk, and one was blind before Kinkade and McGee nursed them to health. The once-blind cat has outgrown its cataracts and now can see.

The cubs were born to a tiger owned by an exotic animal dealer who was unable to care for the cubs and took them to the Arkansas refuge.

Bryan Siddle, operations manager of the nearby winery, said the bed-and-breakfast and a restaurant at the tiger sanctuary should open sometime late fall or early winter.

The fenced-in tiger sanctuary is on Route B, about eight miles southwest of Ste. Genevieve. The winery is a little farther southwest on the same highway.

Siddle said Scott saw an opportunity to develop both the winery and sanctuary as stops for tourists in the area.

Scott also raises cattle on 8,000 acres in Ste. Genevieve County.