He has been called out to tranquilize the king of the jungle after it got out of its cage in Brooksville, captured an African Nile crocodile when it escaped from its enclosure near the Florida State fairgrounds and chased wolves running loose in Seminole.
If you ask Vernon Yates why he does it, he will quickly tell you because of his love and respect for wildlife.
In Seminole, Yates runs a wildlife rescue and rehab center. At the facility, he takes care of everything from black bears to baboons.
Yates likens his nonprofit animal shelter to a place where you take dogs and cats, only he deals with wildlife and exotic animals.
One of Yates’ tigers made it into the Guinness Book of World Records for having a 4.5 pound hairball surgically removed.
Even though Yates is on the short list of people to call when animals are running wild through your neighborhood, he says people can do a lot better when it comes to respecting animals in the wild.
“We are only going to find more conflict between wildlife and people, and unfortunately it’s the wildlife that’s always going to lose. And it’s sad because wildlife will live with us but we don’t want to live with the wildlife.”
