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Lions and tigers and bears, oh my. That quote was made famous in *The Wizard of Oz*, but it comes to life at Noah's Ark Animal Sanctuary in Locust Grove. The organization is home to more than a thousand rescued animals from across the country. Not only do they have lions and tigers and bears; they actually live together.
After being rescued from a home in Atlanta, they all lived together. They were rescued together as cubs, and they were just very bonded. They came from a really sad situation; they were hurt, they were unhealthy. And so that hard time kind of just really made them come together and become a family. And we never separated them. And as you can see, they still live together; they play together, and they love each other.
The family includes Baloo, a 700-pound black bear; Leo, a 500-pound lion; and Chaconne, a 350-pound tiger—collectively known as the BLT: bear, lion, and tiger. The animals were confiscated from a drug dealer's home in Atlanta more than a decade ago, who kept them as a status symbol. Heads of God said at the time the animals were just two months old. The trio has been together at Noah's Ark ever since.
I mean, these are three animals—you know, a lion, a tiger, a bear—from different continents, would never know each other in the wild. And they don't see that in captivity. They've been raised together, and they don't see their differences, and they live in harmony despite their differences. And humans could definitely learn from that. There is something unique about watching a massive bear and tiger rub heads and lick one another as a lion watches from just a few feet away.
But the trio isn't the only odd family at Noah's Ark. Meet Ian and Doc. She's an American black bear who was abandoned by her mother in North Georgia. He's a Bengal tiger rescued from a cub-heading display out west. He didn't have anyone to live with; she didn't have anyone to live with. We tried putting them together, and they hit it off. And now Dr. Tiger is 490 pounds, and Ian is 130 pounds, and she still rules the roost. And she sits on him, and she tells him what to do. And she also climbs on him and will suck his ears as a comfort behavior.
See the BLT and more than a thousand other rescued animals for yourself at Noah's Ark sanctuary in Locust Grove. It's free to tour the facility; they only ask for donations to help offset the $33,000 a month medical and food bill for the animals. Nelson, wsbtv.com