Welcome

Tecumseh is a mountain lion that was the product of someone that decided to breed their “pet” cougars and sell the babies as pets for profit. He was born in 1998 and pulled from his mother less than 24 hours after birth to be hand reared. The idea was to take him to auction at just a few weeks old when he was still too cute for the unsuspecting purchaser to realize how big he would get and how fast. A group of volunteers raised enough money to buy off the breeders and keep him from going to auction so they donated him to Cooper’s Rock Mountain Lion Sanctuary. It was discovered that he had been raised on chicken flavored (human) baby food. His nutritional deficiencies nearly killed him and he was lucky to live past a year old. He spent the next 13 years in the mountains of West Virginia with a luxurious enclosure. Due to lack of support, CRMLS decided to find new homes for all of their big cats and we were fortunate to get not only Tecumseh but an enclosure and perimeter fence to go with him. Tecumseh passed away at Safe Haven in February of 2012 due to tumors on the heart and lungs. Tecumseh left such an impression on everyone that met him that he is represented in our logo.

Diablo was a Green Iguana, despite the fact that he is an orange phase. He was given to a teacher to be a class pet for a middle school but over time he became more and more violent towards the new owner to the point that she could no longer care for him. She even brought him home, away from the chaos but it did not change. Iguanas can recognize people that they like over over people. Iguanas can grow up to 6ft long, can live about 20 years, and come in several different color phases. Diablo was a very friendly and wonderful addition for us. In the time diablo was here he became attached to several volunteers and always had his favorites. He was a spectacle to behold during out vast education programs with him.