Susan Steffens Is Alabama’s Wildlife Whisperer At Tigers For Tomorrow

By Karim Shamsi-Basha

I had never seen a grizzly bear in person.

I saw one last week when I visited Tigers for Tomorrow and Susan Steffens, its executive director. This massive bear came to the enclosure fence when she called him and began rubbing his back like in “The Jungle Book.” Steffens touched him and talked to him. There was a moment when I thought he understood her.

For the past 20 years, Steffens’ passion has been caring for animals. Tigers for Tomorrow is an animal sanctuary and education center near Gadsden that contains tigers, leopards, bears, wolves and a host of other wild animals.“I’ve grown up with animals always being in my life,” Steffens said. “When I was 2, my parents gave me a pony and pushed me out that door. I guess I never came back through that door. My mother always told me a journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step, and I took that first step then and never turned back.”

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