Sam’s Story

Sam was born here at Carolina Tiger Rescue when we were still a breeding facility for endangered and threatened small cats. From the very moment he came into this world, Sam was going to be his own ocelot. He did not seek out attention from his caretakers. He showed no interest in being part of a tour. He was most content to sit up in his tree and watch the world go by. In almost every picture we have of Sam, he is up in his tree. While he loved enrichment and eating (sometimes taking advantage of unsuspecting wildlife!), he in general preferred to be left alone. While that may not seem overly inviting, I always appreciated how much of a wild ocelot Sam really was. Most of our animals would never do well in the wild. For starters, they have become too accustomed to humans and would have to learn how to hunt. Sam, on the other hand, would probably have figured it out pretty quickly. Sam may not have been the most well-known ocelot at Carolina Tiger Rescue but he stole the hearts of those who did know him.