Big Cat Rescue Organizations and Private Facilities

Rescue Organizations and Private Facilities

Unfirtunately, there are a lot of unwanted big cats in captivity today. Most of them are tigers, lions, cougars, and bobcats. The tigers and lions are mostly hybrids, or "generic" animals - the tigers are generally not pure Bengal or Siberian subspecies, even if they are described that way. Generic cats should not be bred, they are not an endangered species. Even if they are purebred, they often come from over-represented bloodlines, which is one reason they're not in a zoo. Also, zoos do not have room for all the big cats in captivity today. The FCC does not take in cast-off pets, because we simply have no room for these cats, there are so many of them. And many so-called "rescue" places are breeding yet more, contributing to the surplus animal problem.

Some of the places listed below are more a "private zoo" like the FCC is, than a rescue facility. I'm just listing them all here together, while not listing any actual "zoos" , which have many Web sites compiling lists of them.

In some US states it is fairly easy to buy these non-endangered cats as "pets", and many people then dump them when they're a few months old and not quite so cute anymore. Or a small circus folds and the animals need new homes. Or those people who go from shopping mall to shopping mall with tiger & lion cubs that you can get your picture taken with - they dump the cubs when they get too big. For every rescue center that has a Web page, there are probably 50 more that don't - there are literally hundreds of unwanted big cats in the US alone. Rescue places take in unwanted big cats and give them a safe home, so that they don't end up as fur coats, or exotic meats at restaurants, or in a canned-hunt operation. Hopefully the rescue center does not then breed yet more big cats, but unfortunately some do. ____________