Located on 45 beautiful acres in Tampa Florida, The Big Cat Rescue has been in business for over 15 years taking care of some of natures most beautiful and magnificent wild animals.

The Big Cat Rescue Sanctuary is a sanctuary that is truly unique, and unlike any Zoo you will ever visit. It is home to 150 Big Cats of all varieties and sizes including lions, tigers, cougars and other amazing and very different types of Big Cats. Although the faculty is large, the staff at the Big Cat Rescue Sanctuary cannot take in every large cat because they are often completely full to capacity.

Turning away on an average year 150 to well over 300 Cats may seem unthinkable. The truth of the matter is few realize that the Big Cat Rescue Sanctuary becomes a permanent retirement home for all of the Cats they do take in, and that these big cats live a long time. Some big cats at the sanctuary can live over 20 years, which doesn’t leave very many openings to other Cats that are in need of a home.

The Big Cat Rescue Sanctuary focuses on protecting the health of these cats during their retirement. Cats are spayed and neutered, and they do not breed the cats. One thing you may notice during your visit is that there are no cubs found anywhere on the property either. A Big Cat is for the most part are known to be very easy going for being such a large animal. However, due to their size and natural instincts they become aggressive when hungry or not feeling well or just having a bad day and came become dangerous to humans. These cats are give the best care available, and Inn Keepers rarely come into physical contact with the cats unless it is deemed necessary to do so or for emergencies reasons and feeding time. This leave the cats to live in peace, in as natural an environment as possible.

The Big Cat Rescue is an absolutely great place that has scheduled public guided tours so you can learn about why these animals are there and what causes them to be abandoned. The tours also teach you what products not to buy and what to look for while visiting your local Flea Markets and Pet Fairs. They also create awareness that there are currently no programs to put these cats back into the wild. You also learn to cost of caring for these abandoned animals on a daily base, which can be over $1,000.00 a day for their food and the veterinarian bills to keep them healthy and to ensure they get quality care. This doesn’t include the operating cost of staffing and all the overhead cost of The Big Cat Rescue either. That’s a lot of money.

Did You Know?

Did you know that lions like Cameron are given vasectomies instead of being neutered? This is unlike domestic cats and smaller wild cats, these larger cats lose testosterone when neutered. This leads to the loss of a lion's mane, not to mention they become very grouchy.

Big Cat Rescue is one of the world’s largest sanctuaries for wild cats. It provides a permanent retirement home for more than 100 lions, tigers, leopards, cougars, servals, caracals, sand cats and others representing 16 of the 35 species of exotic cat, many of which are threatened or endangered in the wild. The rescue’s mission is to provide a home for the animals in its care and to reduce the number of big cats that suffer abuse, abandonment or extinction. Big Cat Rescue offers 1½-hour walking tours during which informative guides introduce visitors to the wild cats who call this home. You can help the Big Cats with your donations. The Big Cat Rescue Sanctuary is located at 12802 Easy Street in Tampa, FL. Call 813-920-4130 to find out how you can help.

More Features By Judy Worley