Sitara the tiger is settling into her new zoo habitat after being rescued from a Butte County facility that reportedly kept big cats in barren enclosures and denied them proper care.
Sitara is a 13-year-old tiger who has found a new home at the Oakland Zoo after being rescued from a notorious roadside zoo in Butte County.
Her name is Sitara, which means “star” in Hindi. She’s 13 years old with glossy golden fur and black stripes, and she’s one of five tigers who reportedly suffered years of horrific, neglectful confinement while serving as attractions at a private Butte County facility that’s been called the “Worst Roadside Zoo in America.
” Sitara has found a new home at the Oakland Zoo, thanks to a rescue operation led by the zoo in coordination with wildlife officials and the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals , according to a news release. The zoo has long committed itself to rescuing and caring for big cats and other animals who have been exploitedthat makes them captives of private owners or those who run small, unaccredited zoos like the Barry R. Kirshner Wildlife Sanctuary in Oroville.
In her new home, Sitara receives medical care and proper nutrition while learning to navigate “a habitat unlike anything she’s experienced before,” according to the news release. In this space, she can splash in a pool or waterfall, roam through grass and other vegetation and climb a platform to laze in the sun.
The zoo also has initiated a program to monitor Sitara’s behavioral and mental health challenges while helping her to “build trust and resilience in response to negative experiences with past caretakers,” the release said. One of five tigers long held in captivity at a controversial roadside zoo in Butte County is cared for by Oakland Zoo staff.
“Projects like this remind us that animal welfare is profoundly personal, and one of the most meaningful things we can do is change the life of one individual,” Amy Phelps, the zoo’s Zoological Manager, said in a statement. Sitara and the other tigers rescued from the Oroville facility will be “given a future with greater stability, greater opportunity, and greater peace,” Phelps added.
All five tigers rescued from the Kirshner facility were brought to the Oakland zoo to be medically evaluated, treated and stabilized. A 14-year-old female white tiger, who has a visual impairment due to inbreeding, was relocated to the Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge in Arkansas, the release said.
Two male tigers — an 11-year-old white-and-Bengal mix and a 13-year-old male Siberian mix — were relocated in state to the Performing Animal Welfare Society , which specializes in providing lifelong care for older and physically challenged animals with complex needs. Sadly, a fifth tiger, a 16-year-old female, was found to be suffering from end-stage arthritis and spinal disease, causing extreme lameness and neurologic deficits in her hind limbs, the release said.
She received intensive care at the zoo’s veterinary hospital, but her condition did not respond to treatment and her care team determined that the kindest and most humane option for her was euthanasia. The Oakland Zoo had space for Sitara following the death earlier this year of its rescue tigers Mia and Lola, the release said. The zoo will become her permanent home, and will provideon her adjustment to her new surroundings.
Zoo spokesperson Isabella Linares said Sitara will be viewable to visitors once she adjusts to her new habitat. Sitara’s arrival at the Oakland zoo was a decade in the making, according to the zoo and a news release from PETA. The animal welfare nonprofit had long called for the closure of the Kirshner facility, which it called “the Worst Roadside Zoo in America.
” The zoo was officially closed in November 2025 after ceasing operations the previous year, as the California Department of Fish and Wildlife launched an investigation for alleged violations of animal welfare laws,Over the years, PETA said it documented more than 20 citations and complaints against the facility and alleged that it held its big cats in barren enclosures and denied sick and injured animals proper care. In particular, the cats suffered from metabolic bone disease, a malnutrition-induced illness causing decreased muscle mass, pain, lameness, and broken bones, PETA said in a news release.
According to PETA, a lawsuit it filed against Kirshner and its business partners documented how the owners tried to avoid having their tigers and other animals confiscated while facing the state-led shutdown and criminal investigation. The facility sent the animals to other facilities, including an unaccredited facility in Rio Vista, PETA said.
As the organization pressed its lawsuit, demanding that these tigers be placed in reputable sanctuaries, the operator of the Rio Vista facility contacted the Oakland Zoo to surrender the tigers.
“These tigers endured hell on earth, on top of which, when authorities closed in, the roadside zoo shuffled the animals around to other seedy facilities like so many stolen goods,” Debbi Metzler, PETA Foundation Managing Director of Captive Wildlife, said in a statement. “PETA’s lawsuit put Kirshner’s cronies on notice and helped ensure that these tigers will finally get the care they need at accredited facilities. ”
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