Tigers For Tomorrow Wild Animal Preserve, Inc. — Attraction in Boaz

There are better experiences available skip this one!!

Based on 4.8 star reviews we were very excited to take the 2 hr trip to visit the preserve. However, from the first contact with staff that quickly changed. The capybara experience is $50 for 1-4 people. We had a total of 7 people, staff could not comprehend that we would pay $100 and go in two separate groups to respect the no more than 4 at a time rule and argued that it wasn’t possible to do so. Instead we stood in line again paid separately for 2 experiences and even then still she was not happy. I’m not sure how we could cheat the system, when a staff member has to let you through 2 gates to gain access to the capybara.

The Capybara experience lacks greatly in substance. Each group was in the enclosure maybe 5-10 minutes max. Tongs to feed her weeds from the property and a few lettuce leaves. Any information about her was given only in response to questions from us. So much for the mission of education.

One positive note, the most of the barn animals appeared to be in good health.

The animals in the preserve are a much different story. The conditions of the enclosures were small and overgrown. As we could observe, limited fresh water was available. The bear “habitat” is an all concrete pad with a concrete pool that serves as the drinking water and a place to cool off. After asking a staff member about fresh water, the staff reported their bathing pools are filled and that is to be their drinking water for the day. However, several of the pools were empty or were filled with stagnate water. After inquiring about the lack of fresh water, it seemed staff came out of the woodwork to fill small buckets in the enclosures. The majority of the animals’ coats are dull and fragile looking. As with most animals, lack of proper nutrition often presents with a dull coat. One tiger in particular was so thin that the vertebrae of his spine are visible.

What little is know about each animal is on a small plaque outside the enclosures- a huge lack of transparency about how the rescue acquired the animal. No staff was available to answer questions to help educate. Based on responses to negative reviews from the rescue, you can come back for the guided tour, but that costs extra as well.

I have read the rebuttals from the rescue that other people have posted regarding their concerns about the living conditions. The size of the enclosures may meet minimum standards; I am not sure how the present conditions “meet their (the animals) specific needs.” Having visited other wildlife preserves and specifically large cat rescues, Tigers for Tomorrow is not the industry standard. While the rescue states they have been “inspected” by accredited associations, those association websites do not show that Tigers for Tomorrow are accredited themselves by those associations, nor are the stellar inspection reports that they boast about posted for viewing.

2022 was a profitable year for the non profit with $17676 net income. The conditions we saw and the pleading for more money to fix a broken tractor leaves one to wonder where does the money go?

Tigers For Tomorrow Exotic Animal Preserve Inc - Nonprofit Explorer - ProPublica

We answered far more questions from our children about the conditions they witnessed in a so called “rescue.” Overall, the money spent should be used as a tax deductible donation not an admission fee- the experience was not...

We visited on a pretty hot day so unfortunately the animals weren't very active. However that is to be expected when it is so hot out- especially with the big kitties. It was still incredible and we still got to view all of the animals. The paths are clearly marked and it is truly like walking in to the wilderness. The staff was busy cleaning cages and making sure they all had water. It was great to see the passion they had to make sure everyone was staying clean and cool. It also speaks volumes that the animals would get excited when the caretakers got close. To me that says they know their people are going to take care of them. The staff was incredibly kind and knowledgeable. The lady who was at the gift ship when we were leaving was THE BEST. She told me and my son awesome stories about the bears as babies and how the bobcat and gray cat became best friends. Her passion for the animals and the time she had spent there came through in spades. We also mentioned we were sad that we didn't get to see Gretel (sweet girl was probably just trying to stay cool) and she offered to walk over with us and try to get her to come out. Low and behold OF COURSE she was out when we went back because we asked for help in seeing her. I can't say enough about how much we enjoyed it. We were able to move at our own pace and view beautiful creatures. I can't wait to come back when it is cooler so we can see the kitties moving about a bit more. Absolute kudos to the staff. This is a true diamond in the rough and the care...

Go when they run the $5.00 special because it’s not worth more than that. Lots of tigers and bears and wolves. Pretty cool. Except the reason I drove over an hour was to do the capybara encounter they advertise all day on weekends. Arrived to be turned away and told they were not doing any more that day..after only being open 2 hours. The guide was literally standing outside their pen doing nothing. Absurdity caused a lot of disappointed kids and frustrated parents due to their false advertising. Pretty lame. Don’t recommend making any kind of special trip if you’re not already in the boonies out there.

Then to get the reprimand below just goes to show the unprofessionalism. Give it up. I did consider the animals when I chose to visit. I saw other groups leave the capybara encounter after we were told no more encounters. I saw capybaras laying in the sun. There is no reason other than poor staffing to close an encounter opportunity. You do get to see the tigers up close. That was worth the $5.00 absolutely. You absolutely do falsely advertise the encounters to be available during the weekends. Perhaps you should say depending on staff convenience they will be cancelled for entire days. Trying to defend technicalities like using the term guide and sarcasm when dealing in customer relations when you’re trying to make a buck off these...