Tiga Cross’s passion for animals gave her the courage to chase her wildest dreams – buying a failing zoo and transforming it into a sanctuary for rescue, renewal and hope.

NOMINATION

Bob Carle is a retired small business owner and long-time member of the Coffs Harbour Rotary Group. He approached me following a courage workshop to nominate “local hero” Tiga Cross, a young woman whose passion, determination and courage inspire him.

I first met Tiga at various functions at the Porpoise Pool*. I was impressed with her and asked her to join Rotary. Just as she came on board, the organisation that owned the Porpoise Pool* went into receivership.

Tiga had worked there since she left school and was very dedicated to the wildlife. The receivers asked her to keep the place going until they could finalise things, and she started talking to them about the possibility of putting in an offer. Anyway, they negotiated a figure, and she finished up with it.

She used her home to raise the money; she had a 6-month-old child, and she’d never run a business. Pretty brave to take on a failing business, with a massive lot of staff. And it’s a risky business. If it rains, you can’t just get staff to stay home; they’re all needed to feed the animals, clean the pens, and fill the tanks.

Crazy brave? Maybe, but I don’t think so.

She’s smart enough to get out there and promote herself and the business.

She’s changed the name, turned it into a not-for-profit, gone out to rotary clubs, councils, anywhere she might be able to get support. In a short time, she’s done some amazing things.

They just got a grant for a rescue van, and others in the community have come on board to donate equipment. Now, when a marine animal is beached or in trouble anywhere from Yamba to Port Macquarie, they can do whatever needs to be done to rescue them.

Sea turtles that get hit by boat propellers can get air in their shells, so they can’t submerge to eat. They’ve worked out a way to fix the problem. They get the turtles all fixed up, and Tiga organises a big release day, letting different people release the turtles into the surf.

Just the other day, in conjunction with the local Baringa Hospital, they did major surgery on a sea lion. Those marine mammals have a totally different way of breathing, so they can hold their breath underwater for a long time. Putting them under anaesthesia is problematic. Somehow, she worked out a way to safely sedate that sea lion with new equipment that had never been used before..

You can see that I’m impressed with what she does. It’s not easy in small business, especially if you haven’t been there before. And she’s taken it on at very short notice with a 6-month-old baby. I’ve tried to provide fatherly advice, and she’s had some good support, but I know it’s been pretty horrendous. She’s had times, like when we had all that rain earlier this year, when her income stopped because they had no visitors. But she’s still there, still bubbly, still eager to have a go.

I think it’s a great thing.

We need young people to take courage and go out there and chase their dreams.

When people in this community see what she’s done, it might just tip them over the edge to have a go themselves.

* The Pet Porpoise Pool is an iconic marine animal attraction on the Coffs Coast of NSW, founded in 1970. It was renamed Dolphin Marine Magic in 2008, and Dolphin Marine Conservation Park in 2018. Despite the renaming, many locals still refer to the business as the old “Porpoise Pool”.

TIGA

I was a tomboy growing up. I enjoyed playing sports with the boys, and I absolutely loved animals. I was rescuing joeys by the time I was 12.

My dream was to work as a wildlife vet in Africa. Then, when I was 15, I started volunteering at the old Pet Porpoise Pool and never left. Even on that first day of work experience, I could see that the place could be so much better.

I thought of people like Jane Goodall, David Attenborough, Steve Irwin and could see the potential.

Over time, things did start to change. When it became Dolphin Marine Conservation Park, I was a senior trainer and helped develop an education program to teach school kids about conservation. When Covid hit and the facility shut down, I persuaded the board to let us run VIP tours. Instead of dolphin kisses, we were offering one-on-one experiences. When Covid ended, my team and I created a welfare talk about how we care for the animals, taking people behind the scenes. It was a big hit, and I finally felt confident enough to take up a management role.

Then I got pregnant, and I was so worried I would lose the connection with the sanctuary that I asked to move into the on-site caretaker’s role and apartment. I literally worked until 4 days before I was induced, and I was already down seeing the animals within a week of Akira’s birth.

It wasn’t a job. I wasn’t being paid. I came down because I cared.

My husband Brian and I met on the basketball court when we were 14, got engaged at 17 and married at 22. We figured we’d stay in the caretaker’s place for two years. We’d save some money, pay off the mortgage and we’d be ok. Seemed logical, but it’s not how it worked out.

Not long after I came back to work, I was pulled into a room with several men in suits. They told me the place was going into administration.

I discovered that in the business world, businesses go up for sale. Our centre went out to tender. About ten investors were shown around. I would tell them about the potential for rescue, rehab and education, but all they cared about was the value of the land and the cost to get rid of the animals.

My team and I set up the Save the Park fund and did Bunnings barbecues, market stalls, social media, information stands. We raised $100,000 in three months, which I thought was pretty impressive, but way short of what we needed to save the place.

The administrator confirmed that we hadn’t raised enough, and it was time to line up places for the animals to go. I had a meeting with The Zoo and Aquarium Association (ZAA) to review the database of animals and come up with a plan for rehoming to other zoos or aquariums.

When the ZAA plan was finalised and ready for sign-off, it included a red list: animals that were too old, sick or costly to be rehomed. One was Ellie, a 29-year-old seal. Then there was Zippy the dolphin, who’s 38. These were animals I’d known for 15 years. And I thought,

“I can’t do this. I can’t sign something that allows these animals to be put down.”

I didn’t sign. I went home to my husband and said, “I just wish I could do something to save this place.” I was crying, and Brian looked me straight in the face and said, “Well, why don’t we try? How about we find out what it would cost to buy it?”

I don’t think I’ve ever loved him more than at that moment.

So the next day I rang every bank, every business broker, everyone I could think of to say, “I want to buy a zoo.” I was laughed at.

I kept trying and ended up finding one bank that was nuts enough to listen to me. I wrote a full business plan, which included becoming a charity and eventually they said, “We’ll think about a loan if you’re prepared to sign your life away.” And I was like, “Yep. Where do I sign?”

I went back to the administrator and submitted my offer. “This is how much money I can possibly afford. I’m going to keep all the animals, most of the staff, and I can be up and running on day one.” The administrator had been running the facility at a loss for three months. Many of the other offers involved ripping up the infrastructure and rehoming the animals, which would take time and money.

He called me at about 8 at night and said, “I think you just bought a zoo.”

The Cross family take over the sanctuary

L-R: Ozzie, Tiiga, Akira, Brian

It all sounds like a fairy tale, but behind the scenes, it has not been easy. I hadn’t been involved financially in the business until the day we took over. It was a shock.

I know that the first 2-5 years of a business are the hardest, so I was expecting that. But then a cyclone hit, then the floods hit, then bushfires, then something would break or an animal would get sick. Sometimes, it felt like big chains were holding me down

The month we took over, we had a $10,000 pump break, and that pump supplies water to our animals. We couldn’t not pay for that. During the cyclone, we rescued 70 animals. You can’t just say, “Sorry, we don’t have the money to feed you.” You just do it and figure it out later.

I started getting hate mail and death threats from the activists who’d been fighting against the facility for years. They were angry that I’d saved it. You’re trying so hard to do the right thing, sacrifice everything, and people say you’re money-hungry.

All of this put stress on my relationship with my husband. He’s working a full-time job, trying to support me and trying to care for the baby. We live at the facility, both doing rounds at night when we’re really tired. And the mum guilt would hit. Akira was always the first child dropped off at childcare and the last to be picked up, and I knew it wasn’t fair.

It all takes its toll on your physical and emotional well-being.

I remember talking to a psychologist about it. He said, “Have you ever thought about just not doing these things? Just leaving your job?”

I looked at him and thought, “Are you kidding?” I can’t stop what I’m doing because then everyone loses everything.

So I’ve kept being positive and passionate, knowing I did this for the right reason. I felt I couldn’t fail. My staff were counting on me. The animals were counting on me.

There are small moments when I think, “Is this all for nothing?” But I just keep pushing through and reminding myself what I’ve achieved and what’s possible until the negativity subsides.

My vision is to build a wildlife headquarters that provides care from start to finish: rescue, hospital, recovery, sanctuary, education and research.

We’ve just picked up our rescue van. We’ve got drawings and a location for a wildlife hospital. We’re already doing education programs for 4500 kids a year.

Those wins give me energy.

Each time I get a win, I feel like I’m making an impact, and I don’t feel so burnt out.

I have to be strong. No one’s going to support me if they think I’m weak. But I’ve learned that I can show vulnerability. I’m allowed to be human. My team knows that sometimes I need to hug an animal. I go and sit with Ellie to remember why I’m doing this. When I feel like I wasn’t a good mum today, I try to remember that I was a good CEO and tomorrow I will be a better mum. I remind myself that as a kid, I thought Bindi Irwin had the best life ever, and now Akira is living that life.

It's still a rocky road ahead. But we’re keeping our heads above water, and even the accountant agrees we’re doing okay, given a difficult economy and multiple disasters. We’re not where I’d like to be, but I’m still proud of what I’ve accomplished.

Have I needed courage? I’ve never thought, “I’m going to be courageous and jump off this cliff.” It’s always been about doing the right thing. Sure, there have been moments when I’ve been nervous or scared.

But passion always overrides fear.

If you would like to help Tiga and her team to realise their vision of a wildlife headquarters that provides rescue, recovery and care for animals, you can donate here.

Chasing dreams, Courage born of Passion