The Wild Life
(Continued)
Despite his shady origins, Boomer set the ball rolling on Jim's sanctuary. A few months later, Jim was contacted by another tiger owner who told him that a breeder in the area had a sick tiger cub that he no longer wanted. In December 2010, Dudley, Jim's second cub, came to his farm via plane. Scrawnier than Boomer, but with equally mysterious parentage, Dudley had severe diarrhea when he arrived but the trained veterinarian nursed him back to health within a couple weeks.
Boomer and Dudley stare out of their temporary cages. Until owner Jim Galvin finishes building larger permanent facilities this summer, the cats will live in his garage.
Jim keeps Boomer and Dudley in adjacent cages in his garage (a temporary measure until he is finished building a bigger outdoor pen for them). He never ventures into their cages — not because he is afraid they would hurt him intentionally, but because their playfulness can have injurious consequences. One too frisky swipe of a tiger paw could break a human bone. Jim is not shy, however, about reaching his arm through the bars to give Boomer a vigorous belly rub, or about pressing his cheek against the metal to receive a wet smooch from Dudley.
As the months progressed and Jim watched his cubs grow into the 200-pound cats they are now, he noticed that the two had completely different personalities. Boomer, the bigger of the two, is the alpha male. Ornery and reckless, Boomer often forgets to chew his food before he swallows it, resulting in a few coughed-up chicken bones post-meal. Dudley, on the other hand, quietly munches his meals in the corner of his cage while Boomer, already having scarfed his food, looks on hissing and snarling in jealousy. Considering the way Jim baby talks and coddles them, it is easy to forget that Boomer and Dudley are not cuddly pets. Throw a raw steak in their cage, and you're in for a rude reminder of just how vicious an apex predator can be.
After three decades of practicing as a small animal veterinarian in Toledo, Ohio, Jim Galvin sees his new 125-acre farm as a safe home for a species that may soon vanish.
With little real farming experience, Jim realized he would have a hard time getting access to meat for his tigers that did not come wrapped in cellophane. Luckily, Jim found Nathan Hale, an Ohio University graduate and seasoned farmer and hunter, to help him in that area. Nate, 'Tater', a burly, blue-eyed ex-football player, is as chivalrous and honest as they come. Within weeks of knowing him, the Galvins trusted Nate with the keys to their house and tractors.
Nate now lives full-time on Jim's property, and, along with helping Jim with daily chores, he is in charge of finding fresh meat for Boomer and Dudley. A cow died at a local dairy farm in April and, instead of disposing of the carcass, the farmer donated the $1,500 bovine to Boomer and Dudley. Nate and two friends set about dismembering and butchering it, a grisly process that can last hours. "I want to get this done before Idol's on," Nate said smiling, lifting a bloody slab of beef onto his cutting board as primetime approached.
Assistant Nathan Hale looks over his hands after butchering a donated dairy cow. Area farmers have pitched in to help donate meat supplies for the sanctuary.
Nathan's role in Jim's dream of opening a tiger sanctuary is a transient one. As soon as the tigers' outdoor pen is built and the sanctuary is really under way, Nate will be moving on, and he dreads the day he'll have to say goodbye to Jim, Boomer and Dudley. Eventually, he wants to get a master's degree in special education. "I'm still young enough and have plenty of time to go after my dreams," Nate explained. For the time being, he is overjoyed to be helping Jim accomplish his goals.
Now that he is finally on track with his sanctuary, Jim has time to be afraid for its future. In April, Jim was rushed to the emergency room with a blockage in his digestive tract — a problem that kept him off the farm and away from his tigers for days. "You start to realize that you're not going to be here forever," Jim said. "Life is very temporary." Now 61, Jim's realization of his own mortality calls into question the future of his tigers. In captivity, Boomer and Dudley could live up to 25 years, and Jim does not expect to see them through that long. Becky had hoped Jim would have a succession plan in place before he even got Boomer, but the project moved full steam ahead and left the Galvins running to catch up.
In addition to longevity concerns, Jim admits that he is now half a million dollars in debt as a consequence of buying the farm and all the equipment required for tiger care. But even in the early stages of his project, Jim is starting to see some of that money come back to him. Nathan and he have been getting deals and discounts right and left — on farming equipment, on meat, on cage panels — through the simple force of their agreeable personalities. What may have begun as quick trip to Walmart for the two of them can last an entire afternoon, as it seems the duo know just about everyone there, and these acquaintances are all eager to help out. Kroger installed walk-in freezers in the barn for much less than the going rate. Jim and his tigers are becoming local celebrities as well. An Albany resident who was once skeptical of Jim's project stopped Nathan in town to inquire about the vet and "our kitties."
Jeremy Cooksey (left) and Keith Lewis (right), friends of Nathan Hale, use heavy equipment to remove a dead cow from a pasture. Meat from the animal was used to feed Dudley and Boomer.
Jim and Becky's most fervent hope is that a private investor or a zoo will take up their cause, footing the bills so that Jim can take in more cats (he has his eye on a lynx and a cougar), open a clinic, and perhaps even start a breeding program. Although he is no fan of paperwork, Jim understands that he will have to start working seriously on fundraising if he wants his sanctuary to get off the ground, and he already has been researching methods to secure financial backing.
But most of all, Jim wants to educate the public about just how close tigers are to extinction and what people can do to save these beautiful felines. School children and adults alike will be able to visit his sanctuary and learn firsthand about tigers' behavior, habits and history. An avid reader, Jim has gobbled up every piece of literature about tiger husbandry he could find and hopes someday to write a comprehensive book detailing the process so others may open sanctuaries like his.
Jim has been called everything from a "dreamer" to "crazy," but he is still intent on seeing his tiger sanctuary become a reality. His feet are firmly planted on the ground, and with the assistance of Becky, Nathan, and his southeast Ohio community, Jim is ready and willing to take every step necessary provide a safe home for a species that may disappear without him.
