Flo-Flo, the fennec fox who resides at Elmira’s Wildlife Sanctuary has made many personal appearances at the Sanctuary’s fund raising events. She has become a very popular Goodwill Ambassador.

But the good kudos for Flo-Flo do not end with her personal appearances. She is featured in an upcoming book for children written by Gene Orlando, a member of Elmira’s Wildlife Sanctuary. Watch for future news of publication and opportunities to purchase to benefit Elmira’s!

Follow Elmira’s Wildlife Sanctuary to learn of the many great activities going on every month.

Do you know the way to Wimauma, FL?

News arrived just before Christmas of 2007, and it was not merry. The surviving owner of the land the sanctuary was built on informed the organization they would have to relocate. As she explained it, she was now alone and had no provisions to deal with liability issues or any other issues that could arise. Everyone worked together to formulate a relocation plan for a rapidly approaching move-out deadline of March 15th!

Talk about having an overloaded Task List:

• Find new land to house lions, tigers, wolves, servals, caracal, lynx, leopards, lemurs, and iguana, a variety of birds and other creatures of the wild, plus, of course, the bear.

• In two weeks find enough people to help take down numerous cages and housing the animals were accustomed to.

• Pack up and move box upon box of records and office supplies – not to mention, the office.

• In less than two weeks find enough people to load and move the building materials that were once home to the animals.

• And then what? How do you pack up wildlife and shuffle them off to temporary shelters, not really even knowing for how long? Where will they go? Who will take them in?

I don’t know about you, but I have a million questions to ask Elmira’s Wildlife Sanctuary volunteers as to the how, why, what, and even an “if”. In the next week or two, I will track down some more details and ask a bunch of questions.

Please get back to me with YOUR questions about this mighty adventure. OK?

My introduction to Elmira’s Wildlife Sanctuary is one of the most awe-inspiring experiences I have ever had. I visited their location and learned a lot about the why’s and where fore’s of their existence, their past and present. There is no better way to promote this rescue organization than to start at the beginning. With the help of Board Member, Santiago Fonseca, I will let you in on their story.

Santiago and his wife Debbie settled into their new home in Tampa, FL, in January 2007. Their love and fascination for the big, beautiful wild animals led them to take a tour of a local wildlife sanctuary. “We headed out that afternoon to check it out, and were thrilled to learn they were having a volunteer orientation session following the tour. Needless to say, we stayed and signed up on the spot.”

Two men, David Kitchen and Ted Greenwood established the sanctuary back in 1998. David owned a fish farm and they’d heard about someone who was no longer able to care for a lion and a tiger. They looked at each other and said “why not?” It seemed like the right thing to do and David had the space. He already owned two bears, so what started as an act of kindness towards two, soon to be homeless “cats”, became a lifestyle and a mission for these two wonderful guys. Little by little they built a loving refuge that today, houses over 55 residents.

Ted and David were funding everything themselves. As the sanctuary grew larger, things got tighter economically. In 2005, Ted and his wife, Robin, leased the land from David and incorporated as a non-profit organization [501c (3)]. They called the newly established sanctuary “Elmira’s Wildlife Sanctuary” in honor of Ted and Robin’s bear – Elmira, a North American Black Bear.

Together they crafted the following mission statement: Elmira’s Wildlife Sanctuary exists “To provide continuing care, life management and enrichment to exotic and wild animals in need of a home and to provide educational opportunities and programs to increase community awareness of the needs of these animals.”

Ted passed away in 2006 and David passed in 2007. Robin took over and she, along with a core of volunteers, has brought the sanctuary to what it is today. Members of the board, as well as a few volunteers, hold the necessary licenses to own and care for these animals – large and small. The rest of the volunteers do all the chores necessary to maintain a facility of this size. Everyone involved in caring for the animals and their habitat is a volunteer.

Stop back soon to find out about their shocking news.