Tessa Stripes is our newest animal keeper here at Carolina Tiger Rescue. She studied wildlife biology at Virginia Tech. Before coming to Carolina Tiger Rescue, she interned at Wildlife Safari. Her favorite animals to work with are tigers! She enjoys giving the animals at Carolina Tiger Rescue a safe and appropriate home for them. It’s a hard and dirty job, but she loves it! Her favorite time of year at the rescue is the fall, when all the animals get pumpkins for enrichment!

Keeper Tessa Stripes Blog Post 5/4/2022

Keeper Tessa here and I have some exciting news to share! Over the weekend, Carolina Tiger Rescue welcomed a 4-year-old male serval named Haiku who was being kept as a private pet in Knoxville, Tennessee. When Haiku became aggressive, his owner realized he was no longer able to give him the care and attention he needed as a wild serval and decided to surrender Haiku to Carolina Tiger Rescue.

Like all our new rescues, Haiku will spend some time in quarantine to ensure he is healthy and to give him some time to settle into his new surroundings. During this time, our keepers will observe him and his behavior, get to know his personality, and will decide where he should live in the sanctuary once it’s been determined that he’s healthy. Welcome home, Haiku!