Big Cat Rescue (BCR) houses 13-14 (their website says 14, but I’m pretty sure our tour guide said 13) different species of cats and over 100 cats total.  I attended the day tour from 3-4:30.  It’s important to note this is not a zoo.  Visitors are led in groups with tour guides and are not allowed to wander freely.  There are some animals who don’t appreciate a human presence so tours are not led near their areas.  The tour guides pause at each enclosure to explain the cats history, how he/she came to be at BCR, and maybe some other fun facts about the species, etc.  It was an extremely informative tour and I regret that I didn’t have enough hands to take notes and pictures!!  So I’m just going to share what I remember and what I can find on their website about each shot.

The two shots above are of an ocelot.  This particular ocelot loves perfume – I forget the brand but it was a common name that you could buy somewhere like Macy’s.  The log the cat is rubbing against had just been sprayed with this perfume and explains why she was acting like a cat high on catnip.  This is just one of the enrichment activities the keepers at BCR use to keep the cats feeling less like they are locked in a cage.

Above is Zabu, a white tiger.  An interesting thing I found out is they are kind of like blue-eyed children – the white is due to a double recessive gene.  Unlike blue-eyed children (fortunately for me) in the wild mother tigers kill their white offspring as their inability to camouflage endangers the entire litter.  Because of this the recessive trait and white tigers themselves are becoming increasingly rare in the wild.  In captivity it is only due to inbreeding brothers and sisters, fathers and daughters that allows white tigers to continue.  Unfortunately this inbreeding can lead to many other genetic mutations that can be unsightly and potentially life threatening.  This practice continues because white tigers are big revenue draws and revenues are what keep the zoos (and every other business) afloat.  To read more about the white tiger controversy you can visit BCR’s white tiger page here.

This is Cameron, who along with Zabu was rescued from a roadside zoo when the owner passed away.  Zabu and Cameron had been raised together in the hopes of breeding them and selling the resulting liger cubs.  After arriving at BCR Cameron received a vasectomy and Zabu was neutered and eventually the two were reunited in their new 3 acre cat-a-tat.  We saw at least two lion enclosures – one from afar – while on our tour.  This lion did talk to us a little bit but mostly it was a fairly warm afternoon so he mainly rested.

The animal getting a bath above is a cougar but also has common names including mountain lion, puma, and panther.  We saw about five of these, maybe more, on our tour.  I think this is Narla who was kept as a domesticated animal legally (he obtained the appropriate licenses) by a gentleman with the best of intentions.  Unfortunately, he passed away leaving his unlicensed wife to care for a wild animal.  Rather than euthanize her, Narla was taken in by BCR.

Visiting BCR was a truly moving experience.  I don’t like to get political here so I will just say that there is a bill in Congress – Big Cats and Public Safety Protection Act H.R. 4122 that will prohibit the private possession and breeding of big cats on a national level.  More information and a link to show your support for this bill by contacting your congressperson are available here.

This began years of buying, raising, breeding and selling of big cats with the belief that they would be preserving the species and selling them to those who would be good pet owners.  Then they came to the realization that what they were doing was not right. These cats belonged in the wild and were never meant to be pets and in most cases pet owners could not handle them when they reached maturity and just abandoned them.

Aside from having to rescue, care and feed for the cats, Carole had her own personal tragedy to endure. Her husband was beginning to exhibit mental disorder and one week before a scheduled medical checkup he just disappeared never to return.  Carole’s advocacy not to raise big cats as pets or for fur made her enemies of those in the trade.  Her husband’s disappearance turned her to media fodder and also a suspect.  She manages to endure it all including the financial strain she and her family have gone through.

Big Cat Rescue is now an educational sanctuary in Florida. The accidental big cat hero and her organization continue their calling of helping these animals.

Here’s the story of how the good folks at Big Cat Rescue managed to raise baby Hope for eventual release into the wild.

Even when it’s the darkest, there’s always Hope!

~Eowyn

Remember, if the Big Kitty wants to rub himself all over your tree and shred it, you let him.

MEANWHILE: Learn about the sponsoring charity, Big Cat Rescue.

They have over 100 giant pussies, all in very large enclosures with as much of a natural environment as possible.

They started as kind of a petting zoo – they would rescue the cats from fur farms and abusive owners, and visitors could actually hang out with the cats. Hold them on their laps, get their pictures taken, that kind of thing.

But over time they’ve become a true sanctuary – they no longer buy or sell the cats, and they never touch the cats except for medical procedures.

As a sanctuary, the welfare of the cats is more important than the entertainment of the people, but even without making them jump through hoops or engage in a mock United Nations debate, many of the cats were playful and seemed almost as curious about us as we were about them.

Clearly this animal just wants a good tummy scratchin'

Tickle mah chin. Go on, I dares ya

Demon Cat's cousin Jumanji is slightly bigger, no less lazy

I was looking around for horny older women, but I guess they were well camouflaged

My camera thought the fence was more interesting than the cougar...

... until the cougar started sizing us up for a midday snack.

A guy in our group said his wife wanted to know if a leopard could change its spots.

No joke here. The enclosure was smaller than my tiny living room.

This guy looks really interested in something...

... ah, yes. These guinea hens must have a death wish.

This guy isn't a cat, but he's so damn cool they let him in anyway.

Dude's the size of a medium dog.

Look at that face. He rivals the honey badger with how much of a shit he does not give.

Just chillin

Bath time

Hello, ladies!

Look at that smirk. This cat has attitude, baby.

Talk to the tail.

Making sure we got her good side.

Time for a nippy nap

In Cat Yoga, this is called the Turkey Pose

From the shadows you can see how close we could get

Kitty don't play dat

There are only two white (non-albino) servals in the world, and they're both here

And that was that. The whole tour was about an hour and a half, and I only showed you about half of the animals we saw. It was well worth the $30 admission – especially since most of the workers are volunteers and almost all of that ticket price goes straight to taking care of the cats.

Tomorrow David is flying back to Seattle. It was fun to have the whole family together for a few days.  I guess I’m just going to have to drink David’s share of the craft beers we bought today.