TIGER REFUGE FROM GROUND UP FIRST FOR DEPAUL

PERRYVILLE -- A tiger refuge in Perry County would be a new venture for DePaul University, which has worked only with zoos and wildlife parks."We've never started something from scratch before," said Denise Mattson, spokeswoman for the Chicago-based university. "Here we can craft the learning, which is something we couldn't do in other places."DePaul this month unveiled plans to buy more than 400 acres of hilly, wooded land in the southwest portion of Perry County to build a National Tiger Sanctuary. The decision to build the conservation-minded sanctuary depends on a favorable reaction from a majority of the people in the county, said Michael Gibbs, special assistant to the president of DePaul.

Although he initially had hoped to have a decision by Thanksgiving, Gibbs said it probably won't be reached for several weeks.

Until now DePaul has worked with fewer than 10 established zoos and refuges, Mattson said.

The university's venture into working with wild animals started in 1995 with a program designed to facilitate students' learning experiences, Mattson said. The idea was to get students from a variety of academic backgrounds into internships working with big cats such as lions, pumas and others, she said."Regardless of the class, we try to get them into zoos and refuges," she said.

Having DePaul's own sanctuary would allow students from disciplines such as marketing, business, psychology and veterinary medicine to work and learn outside a university setting, Mattson said. During the program's existence, students worked at various zoos and animal parks, which Mattson declined to name.

The program ended earlier this year when the person who had established it retired from the university, Mattson said.

One park where DePaul students worked was Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge near Eureka Springs, Ark. While it lasted, the relationship between DePaul and the refuge was strained, said Hilda Jackson, one of the refuge's founders. Although Jackson would not elaborate, she said DePaul had tried to exercise too much influence on the refuge's board of directors.

Other than noting that DePaul had sent students to Turpentine Creek, Mattson declined to discuss the university's relationship with the refuge.

Some residents of Eureka Springs suggested that any disharmony between DePaul and Turpentine Creek was more a result of strong feelings by the refuge's founders than perceived control tactics by DePaul."DePaul's involvement was mainly sending students down for internships," said Cheri White, spokeswoman for the Eureka Springs Chamber of Commerce. "If there were any problems, it was just between their boards."White said Jackson and the other founders of the refuge always have been particular about the operation , which is designed to hold big cats that have been abused or given up by their owners."They feel that they have given up their lives to do this," White said.

Unlike the founders of the Turpentine Creek refuge, Keith Kinkade and Judy McGee of Environmental Rescue have kept a working relationship with DePaul over time, Gibbs said. Environmental Rescue, based in Independence, would be the on-site operators of the tiger sanctuary. It has conducted big-cat educational programs together with the university, Gibbs said, so both sides are familiar with each other.