Big cat rescue

ataraxia

Avid Member
We have a big cat rescue not to far from here that has around 230 big cats of 9 different species. It is a really neat experience to get so close to these cats literally. If you wanted to risk your limbs you could touch one. You can see in some of the pics, that you are literally on a gravel path with the fence of the enclosure literally right there.

I had a male lion charge and smash into the fence at me. All i could is stand still. The size, speed and roar is amazing. If you have had a lion do this and you didnt almost piss your pants. Hats off to you :) When they said dont get to close to the fence, they weren't joking. I just wanted a pic!

Sorry for the quality. Forgot my camera.

Here is the path and as you can see it is a single layer of fencing between you and the earths ultimate land predator.
attachment.php


It was while taking this picture that i was charged by another male within the enclosure.
attachment.php


attachment.php

attachment.php

attachment.php
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0142.jpg
    IMG_0142.jpg
    141.9 KB · Views: 200
  • IMG_0141.jpg
    IMG_0141.jpg
    118.8 KB · Views: 218
  • IMG_0146.jpg
    IMG_0146.jpg
    146.6 KB · Views: 218
  • IMG_0148.jpg
    IMG_0148.jpg
    186.6 KB · Views: 218
  • IMG_0160.jpg
    IMG_0160.jpg
    116.3 KB · Views: 200
Last edited:
Continued

attachment.php

attachment.php

attachment.php
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0144.jpg
    IMG_0144.jpg
    92.8 KB · Views: 274
  • IMG_0161.jpg
    IMG_0161.jpg
    123.9 KB · Views: 204
  • IMG_0177.jpg
    IMG_0177.jpg
    148.1 KB · Views: 266
Wow, that seems totally safe after recent big cat accidents. :rolleyes: Very cool experience, I bet. That last one (I'm guessing jaguar?) is spectacular. Incredible markings!
 
Ever seen "fatal attractions"? Their are a few episodes with these types of places. They end up getting out and killing people. I don't trust chain link to hold a male lion..
 
Hahaha, glad you made it out safe brother. ;)

Sounds like an adventure...

ME too!

What a really cool and terrifying place at the same time! Hats off to the people that run that.

No doubt, you could see how they blocked off the animal from the feeding quarter to the living quarters. Either way accidents happen and i wouldnt want to be the one...

Wow, that seems totally safe after recent big cat accidents. :rolleyes: Very cool experience, I bet. That last one (I'm guessing jaguar?) is spectacular. Incredible markings!

Gotta say it is a neat place to visit. That cat was labeled a Leopard. Jaguars and leopards do look alike.
Safe....well we did walk out alive :rolleyes:

Ever seen "fatal attractions"? Their are a few episodes with these types of places. They end up getting out and killing people. I don't trust chain link to hold a male lion..

They actually have a cat from a man that got ate by two of his big cats. They killed the man and i guess someone witnessed this and called the police. They came and shot the two tigers. The other big cat on the premises was rescued by this place.

A cougar got lose from here a few years back :p

Believe me, when the fencing bowed out like it did. I was thinking " Oh, Sh#@". Im glad lions suck at climbing!
 
Last edited:
There's a place in northern Arkansas called Turpentine Creek that is a big cat rescue. I just love the place; they really put a lot of care into their animals' health and happiness. They have recently done several big rescues from private zoos and other animal rescue centers that couldn't take care of their big cats for one reason or other. If you find yourself in the Eureka Springs area, it's definitely worth the visit - especially if you can make it at feeding time!

They are heavily volunteer and maintain low overhead, so TC is one of my annual charities, every little bit helps :)
 
Definitely will have to check the place out if we ever get down that way.

I have to admit i was thoroughly impressed with the level of care these cats received. They all looked incredible, very healthy.
 
If you ever make it to Florida, there's a Big Cat Rescue in Tampa. I've been up there twice, and they do a great tour around the facility - about 1 1/2 hours or so. The cats there are well-maintained, and they mentioned they have a partnership with the Lowry Zoo (in Tampa), so that if a hurricane threatens, they can get the cats to a safer place to ride out the storm. While all of these cats are beautiful and majestic, I can't imagine owning one personally and I'm glad they were surrendered to a facility such as this to live out their lives in better conditions than they would receive in a private home.
 
John you are brave or stupid?? And are you sure it was almost pee your pants???? I would never have the guts to do that. But it would be wonderful to see them as close as most of us get to the wild. Makes even your zoo look tame.
 
Last edited:
Here are some pics from the Big Cat Rescue in Florida. (Not to steal the thread, but I LOVE these cats ;))

Picture 048.jpg

Picture 052.jpg

Picture 058.jpg

Picture 094.jpg

Picture 097.jpg

They have some special tours for photography and feeding as well as the regular tour.
 
just a funny story,
the world wildlife zoo on the west side of phoenix has a similar
set up, where you can be very close to the cats.
one day i was out sitting on a bench that is 20 ft from
the enclosure. i love watching the white tigers.
anyway, a couple walks by, the woman had a heavy amount of perfume on,
they went right up to the fence and the tigers slowly came over to see "the smeller". i noticed the cats seemed irritated, so i told the couple they may want to back up a bit, just as i said it the cats tail went up and soaked the couple. nasty smelling stuff that.
 
just a funny story,
the world wildlife zoo on the west side of phoenix has a similar
set up, where you can be very close to the cats.
one day i was out sitting on a bench that is 20 ft from
the enclosure. i love watching the white tigers.
anyway, a couple walks by, the woman had a heavy amount of perfume on,
they went right up to the fence and the tigers slowly came over to see "the smeller". i noticed the cats seemed irritated, so i told the couple they may want to back up a bit, just as i said it the cats tail went up and soaked the couple. nasty smelling stuff that.

LOL! Cat spray is horrible I can't imagine a Tiger's spray not to mention the amount!
 
If you ever make it to Florida, there's a Big Cat Rescue in Tampa. I've been up there twice, and they do a great tour around the facility - about 1 1/2 hours or so. The cats there are well-maintained, and they mentioned they have a partnership with the Lowry Zoo (in Tampa), so that if a hurricane threatens, they can get the cats to a safer place to ride out the storm. While all of these cats are beautiful and majestic, I can't imagine owning one personally and I'm glad they were surrendered to a facility such as this to live out their lives in better conditions than they would receive in a private home.

I agree, although they are awesome...I couldnt do it.

John you are brave or stupid?? And are you sure it was almost pee your pants???? I would never have the guys to do that. But it would be wonderful to see them as close as most of us get to the wild. Makes even your zoo look tame.

I am a spur of the moment, dare devil, loves adrenaline, likes to go fast kinda guy...Many times i look back and say that was stupid, fun. :p

Here are some pics from the Big Cat Rescue in Florida. (Not to steal the thread, but I LOVE these cats ;))
They have some special tours for photography and feeding as well as the regular tour.

Great pics! I was told that all white tigers in captivity came from one white male tiger that was bred into his daughters and so on. They also said thats why white tigers generally dont live as long, defects and have health issues. They have a few there and they are beautiful!

just a funny story,
the world wildlife zoo on the west side of phoenix has a similar
set up, where you can be very close to the cats.
one day i was out sitting on a bench that is 20 ft from
the enclosure. i love watching the white tigers.
anyway, a couple walks by, the woman had a heavy amount of perfume on,
they went right up to the fence and the tigers slowly came over to see "the smeller". i noticed the cats seemed irritated, so i told the couple they may want to back up a bit, just as i said it the cats tail went up and soaked the couple. nasty smelling stuff that.

They say that they can shoot that stuff up to 12 feet away with pretty good accuracy LOL~!
 
This is awesome. From looking at the pictures this seems pretty secure. I wouldn't taunt them or put my fingers in all the same...

Don't get me wrong though I would definitely skip a heart beat having a lion hit the fence next to me. Heck I got instinctively nervous at the zoo when a tiger was inches from my daughter even though there is a thick lexan barrier that can stop high caliber bullets!

I would love to take my family to something like this, it seems so much nicer than a zoo exhibit plus its a good cause.

Either way thanks for sharing the experience, awesome!
 
Which species are you counting as "big" cats?
Normally I would count only Lion, Tiger, Jaguar and Leopard as big cats.
Ligers and Tigons don't really count, nor do Cheetahs or Cougars :D.
Great pics though, and if it were legal to keep them in England I would love to get me some GIANT cats haha :):cool:

P.s......Also, don't you think a Polar bear is more of an ultimate land predator?
In fights the bears beat the cats all to Hell.....Thicker skulls, plenty of thick fur around the neck.....Sadly, in times past these sort of things were done for entertainment. The bears always win :(
 
Anything bigger than a domestic cat is a big cat in my eyes. :)

Like bears, not much can consider them as prey. Within the range, big cats dominate as do bears within there territory. ;)
 
This is awesome. From looking at the pictures this seems pretty secure. I wouldn't taunt them or put my fingers in all the same...

Don't get me wrong though I would definitely skip a heart beat having a lion hit the fence next to me. Heck I got instinctively nervous at the zoo when a tiger was inches from my daughter even though there is a thick lexan barrier that can stop high caliber bullets!

I would love to take my family to something like this, it seems so much nicer than a zoo exhibit plus its a good cause.

Either way thanks for sharing the experience, awesome!

Hahah, i know what ya mean ;)
 
Back
Top Bottom