Big Cat Rescue is an animal sanctuary

Animal sanctuary

An animal sanctuary is a facility where animals are brought to live and be protected for the rest of their lives. Unlike animal shelters, sanctuaries do not seek to place animals with individuals or groups, instead maintaining each animal until his or her natural death...

 in Tampa, Florida

Tampa, Florida

Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....

 devoted to rescuing wild cats, as well as sheltering animals unfit to return to the wild. It is home to more than 100 wild cats.

The sanctuary is located on 55 acres (22.3 ha) in Citrus Park, Florida

Citrus Park, Florida

Citrus Park is an unincorporated census-designated place in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States. The population was 24,252 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Citrus Park is located at , or about nine miles northwest of Tampa...

. It receives approximately 25,000 visitors per year. Big Cat Rescue began operating in 1992, and bills itself as "the largest accredited sanctuary in the world dedicated entirely to abused and abandoned big cats." It is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit, accredited by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries and a member of the World Society for Protection of Animals.

The center is part of the International Tiger Coalition along with 21st Century Tiger

21st Century Tiger

21st Century Tiger raises funds for wild tiger conservation projects. It was formed in 1997 as a partnership between the Zoological Society of London , and Tusk Force so that the three groups could collaborate, rather than compete, in raising money for tigers in the UK...

 and Harrison Ford

Harrison Ford

Harrison Ford is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in...

. The organization maintains a large online presence, especially on YouTube

YouTube

YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....

. Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines Co. is an American low-cost airline based in Dallas, Texas. Southwest is the largest airline in the United States, based upon domestic passengers carried,...

 has donated flights for rescues, such as three cougar kittens from Idaho.

Remarkable rescues include five Serval

Serval

The serval , Leptailurus serval or Caracal serval, known in Afrikaans as Tierboskat, "tiger-forest-cat", is a medium-sized African wild cat. DNA studies have shown that the serval is closely related to the African golden cat and the caracal...

s kept in a Albany, New York basement, and a bobcat

Bobcat

The bobcat is a North American mammal of the cat family Felidae, appearing during the Irvingtonian stage of around 1.8 million years ago . With twelve recognized subspecies, it ranges from southern Canada to northern Mexico, including most of the continental United States...

 named Skip, brought in with a crushed pelvis. Fans of Skip gathered on Facebook

Facebook

Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...

, dubbing themselves "Skipaholics" and paying for his medical bills, upkeep, and two video camera trap

Camera trap

A camera trap is a remotely activated camera that is equipped with a motion sensor or an infrared sensor, or uses a light beam as a trigger. Camera trapping is a method for capturing wild animals on film when researchers are not present, and has been used in ecological research for decades...

s.