LOXAHATCHEE, Fla. – There is a big cat sanctuary in South Florida that you probably have never even heard of.
It’s not Zoo Miami or Lion Country Safari, but it’s a tiny spot on a few acres of land in Loxahatchee.
But they are doing really big things when it comes to saving the big cats of the world that are being wiped out.
“Since I started, some of the populations of these cats have decreased by two thirds, so it’s now every one of these cats really is an endangered animal,” Panther Ridge Conservation Center founder Judy Berens said.
Berens began with one exotic cat on an animal farm in Wellington 30 years ago.
Now she houses 25 cats, representing 10 different species.
“We have cheetahs, caricals, fishing cats, which is a very unusual cat, ocelot, African leopard, jaguar, servals, clouded leopards, Amur leopards,” she explained.
Berens is a life-long cat person, you could say, but these are certainly no ordinary cats!
“What took you from the stray cats and domesticated cats to the wild cats?” Local 10 animal advocate Jacey Birch asked.
“The realization that stray cats, although they all need help, they are not going to become extinct, these guys are,” Berens said.
And for that reason alone, for the past five years, her project at Panther Ridge and her life goal is species survival.
The facility takes part in the plan by breeding the animals with the best genetic makeup - not only there - but with zoos all over the U.S.
“We do not just breed and breed and breed, we breed mostly on recommendation,” Berens explained.
As cat keeper Sadie Ryan gave Birch a tour, it was easy to see this 10-acre property is dedicated to the art of baby-making.
Coupled for five years, jaguars Onyx and Mateo are champion parents, giving birth to three litters in three years, while two Carpathian lynx are just starting to link up.
“Nico is about 6 months old and then Zsa-Zsa is a year and a half. He still has to get a little bit bigger before we can put them together,” Ryan explained.
When you come to see these big cats, you’re going to notice a lot of cuddling. You’ll see many of them in pairs and sometimes that’s for the breeding, which is essential, or companionship.
But what’s so amazing about these felines is that many of them are bonded for life.
The Amur leopard is the most endangered big cat in the world with less than 100 left in the wild.
“I don’t feel like what I’m doing here is going to offset any part of the extinction -- it’s helping with the captive populations and getting the most diverse genetic variety that we can possibly have in captivity because that’s the only place they are going to be left,” Berens said.
Visit Pantherridge.org to set up tours, make a donation to the non-profit or learn more about big cats and their plight across the world.