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 PAW PRINTS

The Voice of Fellow Earthlings' Wildlife Center, Inc.

© Roberta Stacy

In celebration of World Animal Day -- October 7th -- we welcome you to our inaugural, quarterly newsletter PAW PRINTS. As a past, present, or future contributor, we first want to thank you for your interest, your care, and your support of Fellow Earthlings' Wildlife Center, Inc., a private, 501(C)3 non-profit facility dedicated to caring for orphaned, injured, old, sick, or homeless meerkats. (And, soon, a cheetah cub! Yes, we're still pinching ourselves at this remarkable opportunity! We'll tell you more in a minute.)

We have received countless cards and letters from around the world with donations, gifts, and thought-provoking ideas that have assisted us in our work. On behalf of the meerkats, we thank you!

Many of you expressed an interest in receiving news about the meerkats, the facility, and our future endeavors. And, we heard you! Thus, we created PAW PRINTS -- the voice of Fellow Earthlings' Wildlife Center, Inc. Through the wonderfully efficient medium of the Internet, we can share our news with you, at least, four times a year. We will let you know how the meerkats are doing, what is on the horizon and, most importantly, how you can be a part of our work.

In the spirit of continuing to include you in our family, we would like to share news of our recent events:

HANDS ON
Research and Consulting

• Cambridge University invited our director, Pam Bennett-Wallberg, to join a team of nine zoologists studying meerkats in southern Africa's Kalahari Desert. Spring 2000.
• The Minnesota Zoo chose Pam to be the featured speaker at the Grand Opening of their meerkat exhibit. May 2001.

GETTING THE WORD OUT
Media/Website

• The National Geographic film crew visited our Center to film portions of their documentary Meerkat Madness, which premiered in February 2002.
• The Animal Planet Channel filmed at our facility for their documentary The Power of Play, which aired May 2002.
• Animals, Animals, Animals, the English children's magazine, commissioned us to write a nine-part series about meerkats. 2002.
• The National Geographic magazine asked for our assistance in compiling information for their September 2002 issue that featured (cover photo) meerkats.
• We have updated our website to include credit-card acceptance. Now, our benefactors will find it more convenient to order items, adopt, send a gift, or make a donation to the animals.

ALL FOR ONE AND ONE FOR ALL
Animal update

• We were blessed with the arrival of Jengo, Nalo, and Rafiki, three adorable male meerkats from the San Diego Wild Animal Park. June 2001.
• Jasmine, our guide dog puppy-in-training, came to live at the Center when she was two months old. Jasmine was born at The Guide Dogs of the Desert (Palm Springs, CA). We are training Jasmine to be a blind person's BEST FRIEND.
• Jake, our Anatolian Shepherd, arrived at the Center in August 2002. He will be part of our Cheetah Project. (Look for an article about Jake in our next PAW PRINTS.)

Here are some of the ways you have helped and continue to help the animals at Fellow Earthlings' Wildlife Center, Inc. The animals are grateful and so are we!

Through our "Adopt a Meerkat" Program, you have helped feed and care for the meerkats, provide a stimulating and nurturing environment for them, and maintain their enclosures. As part of the Adoption Program, you and your guests were able to enjoy a private, interactive visit with the meerkats -- an opportunity unsurpassed in animal adoption programs.

By re-adopting a meerkat, on a yearly basis, you insure that this level of care is maintained throughout the lifetime of our (your) meerkat residents. We thank you, in advance, for continuing the legacy you began with your Adoption!

Others have chosen to contribute through the purchase of our T-shirts and books. As we continue to grow, we hope to offer more meerkat merchandise for your shopping pleasure.

People who love meerkats are a remarkable breed. Many of you have repeatedly asked, "How can I help?" We are extremely grateful for all donations, so we have been reluctant to specify particular needs. However, several donors pointed out that our reluctance to be specific did nothing, at all, to benefit the meerkats. And, so, again we heard you!

Here are our goals, our dreams, and our wishes for the meerkats and their futures:

CHEETAH PROJECT

We are very excited to tell you about our newest project. The San Diego Zoo has chosen our Center to hand-raise a cheetah cub as an ambassador animal for endangered species and critical habitat. We will raise the cub with a golden retriever puppy. Pairing the cub and the puppy is a continuation of the San Diego Zoo's program that raises endangered ambassador animals with dogs. The duo become life-long companions and travel, side by side, to schools and community organizations teaching children and adults about the importance of conservation of endangered animals and their habitat.

Our puppy will be coming to us from The Guide Dogs of the Desert (Palm Springs, CA), one of only ten facilities in America that raises and trains guide dogs for the blind. Stay tuned for more intriguing information and stories in our future newsletters about the unique relationship between dogs and cheetahs in captivity and in the wild.

	Cheetah enclosure -- a work in progress. Photo by Phil Wallberg

We are honored to have been selected for such an important mission. We are busily making preparations for the arrival of our newest resident. The work has begun on the cheetah enclosure. We don't yet know the cub's arrival date, but we must insure that we are ready for the big day.

Although we have received several very generous donations from individuals and businesses for The Cheetah Project, we are still in great need of additional funds for the high cost of housing, food, and veterinary services that are an integral part of caring for a critically endangered animal. We welcome your tax-deductible donations to assist us in achieving our time sensitive goals for this exciting new project.

Our most pressing need is for a full-sized van to transport our cheetah and dogs to schools and outlying communities in safety and comfort. If any of you know of a car dealership, business, or individual who might be interesting in donating a late model van for the cheetah, we would love to hear from you! In addition to the tax write-off, the dealership, business, or individual will be recognized as the donor on the exterior of the van. Large, custom graphics of meerkats and cheetahs will accompany the donor's name.

When you donate to Fellow Earthlings' Wildlife Center, Inc., you may specify exactly where you want your donation to be directed -- to the meerkats, to one of our goal projects, or to the cheetah program. We will insure that 100% of the funds you give will go toward your request.

Well, that's all the news for this issue! Look for us to land in your "in box" in January with more news to keep you in our family circle.

The animals thank you and so do we!

Any glimpse into the life of an animal quickens our own and makes it so much larger and better in every way.
John Muir
(1838 - 1914)