The Captive Wild Felid Symposium was held in Olympia, WA on the 28th of March.  Its approach was groundbreaking in that we brought various fields of interest together for the same purpose - wild cats in captivity.

During the long months of planning and implementing the Symposium we knew that the approach and intent were going to be difficult to present.  Our audience was animal control agencies, handlers/trainers, animal sciences students, veterinary professionals and law enforcement.

Our first presenter was Susanne Beauregard, Director of Thurston County Animal Services.  She untangled the web of laws relating to exotic animals in this country from cities, counties, states, and federal agencies.  She also shared interesting and sometimes humorous stories about her personal experiences in dealing with exotics.

Molly Schaefer of Jungle Fever Exotics had a big job telling attendees about the species of wild cats, those species likely to be encountered in captivity (their behavior and traits), handling, handling and restraint equipment and training.

The show was totally stolen by 'Annie' an eight week old Russian Grizzley Bear cub who Molly was presently caring for.  Annie is pictured here with Susanne Beauregard.

We took an unplanned departure from our itinerary to have Shirley Scott present sooner than we had scheduled her.  Shirley is an animal communicator from Eastern Washington.  Even though it was almost the end of March we had snow coming down most of the day and we wanted to get Shirley back home safely over the mountain pass before too much snow accumulated.

Shirley told us about how she became an animal communicator and the benefits to owners/handlers and the animals.  Her audience was totally rapt!

Pu - the Canadian Lynx (education ambassador from the Wild Felid Advocacy Center) made an appearance to ooohs and aaahs!

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The Symposium was held at the posh Olympia Country and Golf Club.  The staff waited on us hand and foot!  Our coffee, tea, water and iced tea were always topped off.  Our eagerly awaited lunch (all you could eat Cobb Salad and side dishes) did not disappoint!

Lunch break gave attendees a chance to mingle and introduce themselves to one another.

We started the program again with Jennifer Hackett and Patrick McDougall - two Evergreen State College students - who told us about Enrichment for enclosures and for the wild cats.

Our next presenter was Tammy Grundl (from A All Animal Control) who discussed vermin in the wild cats environment and why we don't want them there (ie. diseases and pests they carry).

An equally important topic was fleas and integrated pest management.  Robert Gilpin, DVM gave us insights into these (and other) nasty parasites.

Our final speaker was Noreen Jeremiah, DVM.  Her topic was 'The Healthy Wild Cat'.  Dr. Jeremiah's history includes being a vet at the Bronx Zoo and working with animal rehab institutions.  Her presentation kept our attention as well as entertaining us (she is quite funny!).  We enjoyed the stories of her experiences.

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