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| Carl
Bovard, who is blind in one eye, believes living with 14 big cats
including two lions, six tigers and a desert lynx, is a risk worth
taking |
Big cats lover Carl Bovard, who is blind in one eye, is living with two lions, six tigers and a desert lynx in Florida, USA.
By such extraordinary lifestile Carl is trying to raise awareness
about endangered species. Despite having an outside enclosure all 14
cats could spend time together in their owner’s home. All of them are so
much in lover Carl that you can see them clambering over the pool table
and cuddling up in his bed.
Every Sunday, Mr Bovard treks to the local Walmart, where he picks up about 700 kg of meat for the week
His passion started when 13 years ago car accident left him blind.
Since then he realised the main thing he missed was seeing animals – so
when he regained sight in one eye he adopted his first two tiger cubs.
Later he set up educational, non-profit company for tours to his house
and garden where he with his animals live.
He enjoys playing and wrestling with his huge tiger Sampson in his back yard
He currently has two lions, two bobcats, three cougars, two Bengal
tigers, two Siberian tigers, an Asian black leopard, two black bear cubs
and two alligators in his backyard.
READ ALSO: Meet Woman Who Keeps Man-Eating Tigers As Pets In Her Back Garden
Carl with Sita a six-year old Asian Black Leopard, one of the animals he believes his organisation is helping
Speaking about his clawed pets, Mr Bovard says,
“Having these
cats in captivity and being able to show them off gives people a chance
to get a passion for them. It is essential that we keep them in
captivity to create that passion in people and make them want to help
these beautiful animals.
Playing 14-month-old lion Leo and 13-month-old Siberian tigress Summer in his backyard in Florida
People say to me – they belong in the wild but my question to
them is – what wild? There are seven billion people on this planet and
we are destroying the habitat of these animals.
“Pretty soon the only tigers left are going to be those in captivity and they may need to be used to repopulate the wild.”
Pretty soon the only tigers left are going to be those in
captivity and they may need to be used to repopulate the wild. I do what
I can to give these guys the best lives possible and I want to work to
ensure more tigers and lions in captivity are better treated.”
Carl
currently has two lions, two bobcats, three cougars, two Bengal tigers,
two Siberian tigers, an Asian black leopard, two black bear cubs and
two alligators in his backyard
