Building the Tigers A Home

There's a lot to consider when building a tiger compound. 1. Safety for the neighbors. 2. Safety for the tigers. 3. Ventilation 4. Noise 5. Odors 6. Comfort for the Tigers 7. Exercising 8. Resting 9. Weather (in all climates~~cold/hot/rain/snow) 10. Ease of Maintenance 11. Ease of Cleaning 12. Safety in Feeding/watering 13. Ease of Feeding/watering and 14. Veterinary Care.
Since I'd worked in three refuges, I took a little from each in building my compound. The outer fence is 16 feet high with barbed wire tops. The inner fence is 16 feet high with barbed wire tops. The poles supporting the fence are sunk into over a foot and a half of concrete for stability.
The compound is completely open, divided into pens (dirt runs with ponds) and dens (concrete slab with block housing). At some point I'd like to enclose the den area so I can offer them a controlled climate. But, in the meantime, I'd designed their housing so they can go inside and get out of the wind, snow and rain. They can also climb up on top of the housings. The housings also have weep holes so I can clean inside them easily.
Another point of focus was offering the tigers the choice of sun or shade throughout the course of the day as the sun moves across the sky.
In a letter to my neighbors before I began to build, I offered to plant trees to reduce any noise they may experience. I also bought 70 acres of land and plunked the compound right in the middle so I wouldn't encroach upon any neighbor's privacy or quiet.
To control odors I have gullies in the front and back of the den areas that lead to a septic system in place for the compound. I clean the dens every day.
By having so many choices in where to lie down or play, they are very comfortable. Because of the dirt and pond pen areas, they can exercise. I also let one tiger at a time have run of the perimeter compound so they can run at length. Then, they can curl up on top of their housings, or go inside them and completely get out of the wind and rain or snow.
The bottom rails are four inches above the concrete so I can easily roll their food into their dens. I also dug holes in the concrete so they can drink fresh water without worrying about the safety of small metal tins to hold the water. They also have six foot cattle troughs from which to drink.
The den areas have guillotine gates so I can shut the tigers outside in their pens while I clean their dens, or I can shut them into their dens so we can give them proper veterinary care.
Having tigers is a huge responsibility. It doesn't matter if I'm sick as an old dog, they need to be fed, watered and attended to when they need it, not when I can do it. There are huge safety considerations as well as appeasing annoyed and frightened neighbors.
Speaking of frightened neighbors, I think my next story will be The African Lion-Dog; you guys are never gonna believe this one.

Until Next Time,
Peace.
Tiger