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Well Runs Dry At Wildlife Preserve

Monday, October 29, 2007 – updated: 6:44 pm EDT October 29, 2007

The well has run dry at a wild animal preserve in north Georgia. The owner and volunteers are bringing water by the truckload -- and some other very unusual means -- to the 300 animals at the Chestatee Wildlife Preserve in Lumpkin County.

While some people may be concerned about having enough water for their lawns, others need enough water for their Grizzly. At the Chestatee Wildlife Preserve, they have lions and tigers and bears…oh my. All with one critical thing in common. “You’ve got to have water for everything to survive,” said C.W. Wathen with the preserve.

Mojo the juvenile Grizzly and Daisy the Black Bear. Wathen has raised them from cubs. “These bears, they go through about 155 to 100 gallons a day,” said Wathen.

The hoof stock, like the watusis drink a lot more. Some animals drink less. But last Friday, the well went dry. “We ain’t getting nothing out of it,” he said.

So how are they watering about 300 animals? Volunteers are literally bringing in bottled water along with some tanks-full. Mojo likes the store bought, Majestic the white Siberian tiger desperately wants to play in water, but they’ve cut back to the essentials.

They don’t have any reason to think the wells are going to get recharged any time soon and so they’re going to be hauling in water anyway they can for the indefinite future.

For more information, go to www.chestateewildlifepreserve.org

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