Jon Patch chats with Dr. Bhagavan "Doc" Antle, the founder and director of T.I.G.E.R.S., The Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species and the R.S.F., The Rare Species Fund about his new book, Fierce Beauty: Preserving the World of Wild Cats.  Fierce Beauty is a celebration of tigers, leopards, lions, ocelots, and other wild cats that inhabit The Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species (TIGERS), a wildlife preserve in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The institute’s fifty acres are home to more than one hundred rare animals, from ligers (a hybrid cross between a male lion and a tigress) that stretch nearly twelve feet long to cheetahs capable of running seventy miles per hour.

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Dr. Bhagavan "Doc" Antle is the founder and director of T.I.G.E.R.S., The Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species and the R.S.F., The Rare Species Fund. He grew up on a vast cattle ranch in Arizona, where his great love for wild and exotic animals began and from a very young age he began raising and caring for every amazing animal he could get his hands on. As a young man he had many great opportunities to travel and explore the world and this eventually brought him to China where he studied for and received his Doctoral degree in medicine. He then interned as a traveling Doctor throughout many villages in mainland China and other parts of Asia. He returned to the United States in the early 80's and located in Buckingham, Virginia, where he co-created and ran Integral Health Services; an alternative drugless therapy clinic utilizing meditation, diet and exercise programs.

In 1982, the clinic was visited by a zoo director who introduced Doc to a Siberian tiger cub. He was so amazed by the presence of the tiger that he asked if he might use it at the end of one of his lectures, to demonstrate how even the most powerful animals were greatly affected by their environment. The presentation was a great success and after it was over an impressed audience member introduced himself as the local head of Exxon Oil. He asked Doc if he would present the tiger and his message of the dangers of environmental damage at an upcoming Exxon Convention. Needless to say, they were blown away and an amazing partnership was born between Doc Antle and the big cats of the world. T.I.G.E.R.S. was soon created as a wildlife education organization, dedicated to promoting global conservation with informative, educational, and entertaining interactive programs. It's animal ambassadors are important living examples of current worldwide environmental issues, helping to educate the world about the importance of conservation and global biodiversity. Today, Doc is widely recognized as one of the foremost animal trainers in the world, having worked with thousands of animals, and traveled the globe promoting the education and conservation of some of our planet's most rare and endangered species.

T.I.G.E.R.S. and the R.S.F. (Rare Species Fund) are based in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and operate four public education exhibits; Two "Preservation Stations" in Myrtle Beach, SC, "Wild Encounters", located at Jungle Island in Miami, FL as well as yearly productions in the Boston, MA area of the highly acclaimed show "The Tale of the Tiger".

At our Preservation Stations, the wildlife ambassadors; the great apes, big cats, elephant and a stunning group of other highly interactive animal ambassadors, offer our guests a collection of experiences that can be life changing. While at the preserves, the participants senses are awakened to a whole new world; feeling the leathery hide of our elephant, the soft touch of a lynx, the sweet smell of a binturong and the heart pounding sound of tigers running at 55 miles per hour. Our visitors see animals they know and love displaying their spectacular natural talents and have encounters with new ones they never even knew existed. During these encounters our guests connect with wildlife in a very intimate way which personally involves them in the lives of these amazing animals. They then walk away into the world with a desire to save these creatures and help preserve their environments.

T.I.G.E.R.S.

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