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Big Cat Rescue is an animal sanctuary near Tampa, Florida, United States, devoted to rescuing and housing exotic felines, rehabilitating injured or orphaned native wild cats, and ending the private trade and ownership of exotic cats via educational outreach and legislation. As of August 2015, the center is home to 19 big cats and 67 small cats. Big Cat Rescue has sheltered binturongs, bobcats, caracals, civets, cougars, Geoffroy's cats, leopards, lions, lynxes, ocelots, sand cats, servals, and tigers. The sanctuary is located on in the Citrus Park area of North Tampa.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= Credentials )〕 In 2014, Big Cat Rescue received over 27,000 visitors.〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher= Big Cat Rescue )〕 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 is a member of World Animal Protection.〔〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries )〕 ==History== Big Cat Rescue started on November 4, 1992.〔 Previously the sanctuary was a conservation organization known as Wildlife on Easy Street, which featured a bed and breakfast experience that allowed guests to spend the night with a young wild cat in their cabin. According to the sanctuary, this part of its history was a misguided effort to aid captive conservation and animal welfare of privately-owned animals.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url= http://bigcatrescue.org/about/our-evolution/ )〕 The company became a nonprofit in 1995.〔 In September 2000, Wildlife on Easy Street applied to the Association of Zoos and Aquariums for accreditation as a Certified Related Facility. The application was denied in March 2001 for various reasons, including concerns about the amount of visitor contact with the cats, lack of any trained zoological professionals on staff, insufficient formal veterinary programs and unfinished perimeter fencing. In 2013, following a 2011 lawsuit, Joe Schreibvogel, aka "Joe Exotic", whose family runs the GW Exotic Animal Park, was ordered to pay Big Cat Rescue $ for using confusingly similar trademarked materials. A story by Tampa television station WTSP in 2011 discussed numerous concerns raised by critics about the way Big Cat Rescue operated, including lack of transparency, animal law violations resulting in USDA citations, inadequate fencing that could potentially result in animal escapes, and describing animals taken in by the sanctuary as being rescued from poor conditions while in reality they were kept and raised properly and in a loving home. The story included criticism from Joe Schreibvogel, who at the time was suing Big Cat Rescue.〔 In October 2014, Big Cat Rescue was issued a warning by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for letting a leopard into an enclosure that was insufficiently secured for this species, which could have resulted in an escape. The warning was issued after a complaint by a wildlife rescuer who also runs a shelter for big cats in the Tampa area.〔 In November 2014, a routine inspection performed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission found more than 80 concerns and violations, mainly pertaining to poor conditions of enclosures.〔 The inspection also noted that "All animals appeared to be healthy with food and fresh water provided. All enclosures had the proper enrichment, shelter and are maintained in sanitary conditions."〔 No citations or warnings were issued.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Big Cat Rescue」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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