Note from Beads of Courage: We are honored to share this guest blog post written by Lara Kraft,  Vice President, Chairwoman, and Media Director at Keepers of the Wild. As part of our 20th anniversary celebration, Beads of Courage is proud to announce a new partnership with Keepers of the Wild Nature Park. This accredited, top-rated, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization located in Arizona is dedicated to protecting abused, neglected, abandoned, and retired captive wildlife, providing the best standard of care, and helping enforce humane treatment of all animals through education and public awareness.

Many plans are in the works with this partnership, including an opportunity for Beads of Courage families to visit the animal sanctuary (more on this to come). But first, we are proud to announce that we have adopted a beautiful tiger named Maddie to serve as our real-life Courage Tiger! Our friends at Keepers of the Wild say, “We told Maddie she is the new Courage Tiger and she wants you to know that she is honored and will put her best paw forward in her new ambassador role with Bead of Courage.”

In honor of National Sibling Day on April 10, please read more about Maddie and her sibling Chuffers!

The Tale of Two Tiger Sisters

Maddie the tiger and her sister Chuffers are two courageous tigers who have been through a lot of tough experiences together. This is their story of how special the bond between siblings can be. 

The sister tigers were born and raised in a place where there were a lot of animals of various kinds, but the people taking care of them did not treat the animals with respect and love. Many times, Maddie and Chuffers felt scared, but the girls could take comfort only in each other’s company because they did not live with any other family members. The two spent a lot of time together, playing whenever they got the chance, trying to make the best of their sad circumstances. 

One day, Maddie and Chuffers received news from their animal neighbors that they were going to live in a new place called an “animal sanctuary”. They did not know what that word meant, but they were excited about the thought of leaving their current home behind and going on an adventure together.  

A few days after they heard about the news, the sisters were loaded up into travel crates and rode in an air-conditioned truck trailer all the way across the United States. It felt like forever had gone by when finally, they awoke to the sound of the trailer bed creaking open and the bright sunshine streaming in to warm their fur and whiskers. They had arrived! Maddie overheard a woman call the new place “Keepers of the Wild” and heard a man say something about “Arizona.” Arizona? Where was that? Maddie wasn’t sure at all, but she liked the way the air smelled. So many new smells!  

Lots of people were gathered around the tiger sisters as they were separated and unloaded from the truck. Maddie let out a nervous hiss and Chuffers growled as they were identified and checked by a veterinarian to make sure the girls were in good health after such a long journey. Once they were given water and a snack, the two tigers were transported to what the people called their “new habitat.”  

After some shuffling around, two big gates opened, and Maddie took the chance to run for it! She leaped out of her transport crate as fast as she could and suddenly found herself in a beautiful canyon surrounded by lots of trees, flowers, big rocks to climb, a swimming pool, and … Chuffers! Reunited at last, the sisters gave each other a friendly tiger chuff and wasted no time playing a game of hide and seek and tag behind the rocks and grasses of their new home. Arizona was going to work out great after all, and Maddie and Chuffers felt glad and proud of themselves for making a big, scary change and sticking together.