The Scavenger Hunt, June 21st, 2008

Cleo Leopard

November, 1999 - June 15, 2008

Many of you who attended our June Parents Day were informed that dear little Cleo Black Leopardess was ill with a reoccurrence of the fungal infection that she had last year. All of us thought we would lose her then, but with the help of Shambala's wonderful veterinarians, she fought on and she pulled through. Sadly this was not going to happen again. She lost her battle on Sunday, June 15th 2008.

The first indication that she was not feeling well was when she started not eating her normal amount of food, which alerted Chuey that something was not right. She was taken right away to Dr. Naditch's office and started on very strong antibiotics as well as doing tests. Dr. Naditch was in constant contact with Dr. Bernstein as he had treated her for the same illness last year. She was holding her own with this treatment until she stopped eating and then Chuy and Trudy brought her back last Sunday to Dr. Naditch. It was decided to do surgery on her to see what was going on. With the surgery Dr. Naditch found that the fungal infection was every where in her body and there was nothing that could be done for her. With Trudy and Chuy by her side, Dr. Naditch gave her one more injection and Cleo was free.

Cleo came to us December 4th 2000 from the Michigan Humane Society. She was confiscated from the same private owner as Lily Lioness and King Lion. Right from the start Cleo showed us that she had her own ideas and as time went on she showed a real good interest in Georgie Black Leopard! Normally in the wild, leopards are solitary animals unless the female has cubs or a mate. Maybe it was the age difference that attracted Cleo to Georgie, Georgie was older, whatever it was it was mutual. Georgie adored her and she could do no wrong in his eyes. He was very patience with her even when it came to stealing his femur bone. How many times on Parents Day did we watch them get their bones and Cleo would grab hers and take it to safety so she could come back and steal Georgie's! Chuy would have to retrieve Georgie's bone and give it to him all over again. Sometimes Chuy would have to separate them just so Georgie could enjoy his bone. Every now and then he would put her in her place but when she became ill last year he was right beside her and would groom her. Besides being extremely protective of her he was also such a comfort to her. The love and devotion they showed each other was remarkable for animals that were supposed to be solitary.

She had several Adoptive Parents who have wonderful memories of her, her cute little nose, her beautiful eyes, her daintiness all of which Bill Dow our staff photograph caught in a photo when she was featured on the cover of one of our old Shambala news letters, but we will always rememberher love and devotion to Georgie.

Sheena Cougar
May,1989 - May, 2008

It is never gets any easier to announce that one of our Wild Ones has passed away, so it is with much sadness that we let you know of the passing of Sheena Mountain Lion on the 17th of May, 2008. There was no indication that anything was wrong with her till that Friday, when she stopped eating. Up until then she had been playing with her ball, eating, and always greeting handler Chuy with her little mountain lion chirps and peeps.

One of the traits of the great is cat is to never let on that there is anything wrong with them, so the minute Sheena stopped eating there was concern. Saturday morning the 17th, Chuy and Trudy took her to see preserve veterinarian Dr. Gay Naditch for tests and blood work. After all the tests were completed, the results came back with the news of liver cancer. This was also confirmed when Dr. Naditch found a large lump in the liver area; but because of her age and the risk of her not coming out of any type of surgery it was decided that it would be in her best interest to let her cross over the Rainbow Bridge. Both Chuy and Trudy along with Dr. Naditch were with her.

She was born in May, 1989 and came to Shambala in April, 1994. She had been confiscated by Fish and Game from a very wealthy California man who did not have the proper permits and licenses to have her. He tried to get her back, but Tippi fought to keep her here at Shambala. Tippi won, and for these many years Sheena held court during the Safaris and Parents Days. She could be found in her enclosure in the Barbecue Area holding court. People loved to see her as she received her tribute of snacks during the Safaris or her femur bone on Parents Day. She would always chirp or purr and would let the guests hear some of the mountain lion's different vocalizations. When the audience was at an end she would either pretend we were not there or go in her den box. There were times she would make us look for her. When the tours got to her enclosure, she would be up in her tree looking down at us as we looked for her. Chui would then come and she would race down the tree to get her treats. All the guests would be in awe of her. She truly was Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, and she never let us forget it.