Incredible facility! As someone who has experience working with exotics and had heard a lot of conflicting viewpoints about this facility, I fully recommend visiting. The habitats are spacious and many have very nice water features. The animals all look incredibly healthy, engaged, and calm. Many were very social as we walked by. The demo is a must see! Seeing the relationship between Clayton and the cats is amazing, they’re obviously very well cared for. The demo is also very educational and talks about what these animals are facing in the wild. They promote pet adoption through local shelters and actually tell real facts (such as how white tigers do really happen in the wild). This was an awesome experience and I’ll definitely be visiting again

Great big cats! And more, bears turtles monkeys birds, so many animals, a must visit - great show, excellent staff very friendly. Forget tiger king, these guys are professional and family friendly. Get there when they open and plan 3 hours at least to get the full experience.

The animals looked healthy and well cared for. My granddaughter got to feed the tigers and bears. She loved it. Loved seeing the big cats close up.

Always a wonderful time going to the big cat habitat... super friendly staff... the animals are beautiful and well cared for

Had a good day here. All the employees were freindly. When your hot go to the fan water mister for a cool down. Pay attention while at the monkey cages or you will have some fruit or worse thrown at you. Feed the tigers or bears.Dont miss the camel and ponies. Will be back again.

They take great care of the cats, you can get up close to many tigers and bears. And they are all active, the volunteers feed them, its great.

My husband and I took two of the grandkids here. It was a great day! The kids got to feed the tigers and bears. The monkeys were funny, out of the four of us the monkey decided he would throw his half eaten food at me no one else just me The kids thought that was great. We will be back for another visit.

This place is a great place to stop by with or without kids. It was 18 dollars to get in and was like a mini zoo except much more interactive. They have around 15 large cats that you can get really close to. They have a great cause, to support local shelters. Most of their animals are saved from some type of bad situation. They even put on an alligator and big cat show. A lot of the cats are rescued pets so the show is not your circus show, theyve taught the animals some tricks but it is absolutely worth it. Definitely worth it.

Dont say you disagree with something they are doing on FB or they will completely remove your comments if it doesnt make them look good! I have no issues with sanctuaries and raising money to take care of these animals, but when they show they want to raise money by letting you touch their wild, exotic animals.. I have a problem with that. Thats using them for show instead of taking care of them as they deserve.

My boyfriend and I visited the sanctuary today. We loved it. The volunteers are great. The animals look like theyre well taken care of. You get to see them up close which is pretty cool. Most of the sanctuary is shaded too which makes the experience so much nicer in the Florida heat and its only $20 bucks. I highly recommend this place.

Loved the place & concept but the food for visiting humans was not good. No options for vegetarians other than French fries or nachos with nastiest cheese ever. Please donate generously as the cats & other animals need our help.

Amazing and affordable fun for the family. Very appreciative of Toni (I believe) who went out of her way to make sure our kids fed the tigers. Great experience.

The staff is super friendly and full of information about all the animals. I love going here and so did my family!

This place is awesome! The cats are beautiful! There are also Monkeys, turtles, parrots, bears. There are a lot of animals to see! We really enjoyed our trip today. We also thought the staff& volunteers were great - all very friendly and they seemed to love their jobs! Great visit

This is a great place to see animals close up. All the employees were so nice and informative. Its a good size and where the animals were at, it looked well maintained. I think the price was fitting for the cause it goes to and the fact it is only open 3 days. I have never seen a Liger before and it was AMAZING! Really enjoyed the experience. I would definitely go again!

Wow this is an amazing cat/ animal sanctuary! Easy to navigate. Not to big, great information from Steve about the big cats. He even had them do tricks for us since we were not able to stay for the show at 2pm. Elsa was a huge hit. You can pay 3 bucks to feed the bears and lions a snack as well. Great for visitors of all age. Wheelchair and stroller accessible.

This place is so great! Family fun and a worthy cause! See this amazing animals that are so endangered now. The show is worth it! They do a great job of keeping it fun and educational as well as entertaining!

This is an awesome place to spend the day. Many different animals to see here and all are either donated from private owners who could no longer keep them or zoos for the same reason.There are petting areas with baby goats, lamas and an emu.Loins, tigers, bears, lots of birds, tortoises and monkeys.It worth paying the extra $5 for the VIP seats for the animal shows. Gets you closer to the animals and the seats are much more comfortable.

Amazing. Simply amazing. The animals are beautiful, the habitat is clean. So many animals, all taken care of well.

Ive never seen so many Big Cats in one place before. The two live animal shows were nice. I got to hold an alligator and get close to the animals. The place was very clean and well kept. The animals were very active today. And oh yeah, the people were nice also.

Wonderful place to visit. A must see!!

Went to visit my dad in Florida a couple years ago. Big cat habitat was a great place to go. All these cats have been rescued. I was more than happy to pay to help them out.

Great place to get real close to lots of wildlife. Bring the family and enjoy.

My 16 month old just loved Vesba the . She did however get in trouble when she said damn that Carol Baskin.

Many of the animal enclosures were poorly maintained. There were two things that made me had to just walk away. The first was that right as you walk in you can pay to feed a bear a tiny hotdog on a stick. The second was that the tortoise enclosure had a pile of rotten food in it that was clearly not cleaned in quite some time. It looks like each time the tortoises are fed, food is just dumped on top of the previous non eaten food. Its definitely not somewhere that I would want to go back to, and Im sad to know the animals are kept in those conditions.

We wanted to do something for my daughters birthday but we also wanted to do something that was for a good cause. Not only was this fun and educational but we love that our money is going to help the animals. You can tell that everyone here really cares for all the animals. It was a great family experience....we will definitely be back!

Nice! Great for kids! Clean and the animals look well cared for.

My whole family loves this place and weWill be going a lot more! They have a little food truck in the center of the place that has really good eats. The kids had a great time feeding bears! Went to the 2pm show and had a blast, also learned a lot. Great place and very family friendly. Oh and the baby goats love to play and get pet so definitely get over there!

My husband brought me to the Big Cat Habitat & Gulf Coast Sanctuary on a date, knowing how much I enjoy animals, especially big cats. I was expecting to see a couple big cats, some birds and monkeys. We were both blown away by the facilities for the animals, the number of species there were, the number of big cats housed at the habitat, the care taken with Gods wonderful creatures.We even got to hear the beautiful African Lion roaring as though he was calling his pride...and everyone came running. Lol, I guess it worked. Good job, king!Thank you all for enhancing and adding to our day. He planned a perfect day for me, but he couldnt have done it without you!

This place was fill of exotic animals! They had all kinds of animals you would expect to see, Lions, tigers, zebras, a Liger, all kinds of monkeys and bears. They had a meeting zoo with goats and an Emu, and much more. They were very informative and you could tell they wanted nothing but the best for these animals they rescued. This is a great place to take all ages.

A very interesting dayMany large cats and other animals to see we had a very good day there

If you want a up close look at bears, lions and tigers then this place is for you. The employees are very knowledgeable and you learn a lot about these beautiful giants. The show they had dragged on a little too long by all the talking. My kids were starting to lose interest . The show itself was fun and informative and looks like the owners take good care of these animals. There is also a little petting zoo area where you can pet the cute goats.

Such healthy, beautiful, animals well worth the trip an we loved it!! Cant wait to come back

My son and I both equally love this place. He personally loves lions, and they have plenty! But equally impressive were the huge bears, tigers, liger hybrids (huge) and how close you can view them safely. Great shows, concession area and easily accessible restrooms.

Very sad place. There was no place for the animals to roam. All the animals looked distressed. I only went because my husband wanted to go check it out and hopefully run into Carole Baskin.Edited: Regardless if Carole Baskin is or isnt affiliated with this place, it is still a sad place to see these animals in.

Wonderful place! Love what they do for the animals. I love how close and passionate they all are about the animals. It definitely made me happy all the animals were healthy and happy. Very great experience!

Had such a great time seeing all of the animals and watching the shows. Everyone we spoke to who worked/volunteered here was so nice and knowledgeable. Would definitely recommend spending the afternoon here.

Interesting & Informative!Few people will ever get to see these animals in the wild. This habitat provides an opportunity to see majestic animals up close, while supporting the organization who cares for them.We were initially concerned about reviews listed here with disparaging comments about the size of the enclosures and the appearance/health of the animals. We also noted that some visitors experienced this an exploitation. We did some research and decided the organization seemed legit, and paying the entrance fee would at least support their work while we could see for ourselves what the place was like.We thought it was done well, and great care seemed to be given in how the enclosures were created. The big cats were in relatively small enclosures (we estimated they were the size of human bedrooms...15 feet by 20 feet for each cat), but signs indicated they were each given ample time in the larger outside recreation area. There were many exhibits and signs providing information on the animals, their care and feeding, and about the organization.The petting zoo was popular with kids and grown ups alike, and well-staffed to ensure visitors did not attempt to pick up or otherwise harm the animals.There was something magical to be SO close to these animals, and it gave us a deeper sense of what they are like.I respect that some people are firmly against anything that has a zoo-like atmosphere, and they should probably skip this place. Many folks understand that places like this allow children and adults to increase their knowledge, appreciation, and compassion for wild animals. We were glad we chose to visit and support this sanctuary.

Many more animals than we expected and was a lot of fun for the whole family, adults and children!!

If you love large animals this is the place to be. There are over 50 cats there and many other animals to see. It is a small - medium sized attraction. The Big Cats seem very well fed and seem happy as does the other animals. Several unique/one of a kind animals there(Liger). The staff is super friendly and the cat show was great(with several surprises) and actually quite informative. At less then 20 bucks it is definitely worth it.

Second time there, beautiful place and they have a very entertaining show.

Absolutely awesome!! Tons of big cats and bears. Petting zoo was fantastic. Our teenagers loved it. The cat show was great. These people have Dona. Fantastic job. Well be back in April for sure!!

Loved this sanctuary! All animals well taken care of, had a wonderful day and experience. A cant miss day trip!!!!!!!

Awesome time!!! Love how many animals they had and how close you can see them. The show was funny and educational. Loved it!! If I didnt live so far, I would come more often.

It was a horrble experience!!! The staff was not consistent with any of the covid mask rules. ALOT of the staff didnt wear mask YET THEY HARRASSED THE PAYING CUSTOMER TO WEAR THEM.When asked why the staff wasnt wearing mask they replied, its cause they volunteer to be there.So many inconsistencies. It literally scared me and my family.

Great place to spend the afternoon for both kids and adults.Big cat habitat had so many beautiful rescued animals, big & small. Had a cool petting zoo area with baby goats, llamas & emus. Also had a small baby gator that you could hold. We went to both shows and they were amazing and very interesting. The coolest thing about the Big Cat Habitat is that it is a family owned Sanctuary & you can tell the family and all the amazing volunteers love the animals & the work they do.

Had a great time at this facility on my own tour. I visited it for my birthday with my boyfriend. It’s a small habitat with what looks like way too many cats. They don’t provide tours, it’s a walk around exhibit. The one main thing that made me rate this place low was the fact that everything is outdated. My wallet was stolen here and there was no way to receive help from the big cat habitat to to find the culprit. Which led me to believe they did not want to be involved. They (manager/boss older lady) told me they couldn’t check the cameras unless the police was contacted. I contacted the sheriff’s office after I left on vacation to go back home. I got a case done for what happened but was never helped by the facility. The lady in charge walked me around everywhere to “check” and said she couldn’t check the cameras and then changed her answer to the cameras not being on at all or have recorded anything, which sounded like a lie. Honestly she didn’t look like she wanted to help at all. I lost all my official documents & over $300 in cash. Regardless of the matter not being their direct fault, the facility but mainly the older lady in charge could’ve at least tried to look like she wanted to help. It was a small place with a variety of animals and too many cats in cages that it looked like the poor cats don’t have enough space and aren’t taken care of how they should. I wouldn’t go here again and I wouldn’t recommend anyone to visit this place either.

Awesome rescue! They take in many exotic animals that owners cannot ordont know how to care for. They rely upon donations to keep in operation. All the animals seemed Happy and healthy! Would definitely visit again!

It was a wonderful experience to see people who really are concerned for these beautiful wild animals. I will send money to them.

Very nice. The animals are very well kept. It was a fun time.

The workers are really nice the animals look like they are in great conditions they have a really nice show

Great place. They rescue and take great care of their animals including big cats that other places wont take because they are so expensive to feed and care for. A great place to consider donating to!

Best time ever! Knowledgeable staff and volunteers, clean, animals are well cared for! Just a wonderful experience!

How nice to have such a place in our area! I took my grandsons there and had a great time. Im a combat veteran and I really appreciate the waved entrance fee and your support.

The staff here are extremely friendly and the animals were so close and easy to see. Yes there are big cats but there is a lot to do (bring cash for extra activities) and other things to see. We enjoyed a pony ride, feeding goats, a turtle, lamas, bears and a smaller cat. The show was neat however there was a lot of talking and no captioning available.

Great local animal sanctuary, worth the price, magnificent animals.

1st time me and my 6yo here and gotta say had an AWESOME time! Hard to believe up to 40 cats are on this campus, well taken care of animals! Happy and relaxed atmosphere and friendly, accommodating staff for sure!! We loved feeding & petting goats as well as lion show was fantastic!! My son loved the jaguar too. Take the kids 100%

Really enjoyed the tiger show!

My husband and I visited your sanctuary on March 7th, and had a wonderful time. Thank you for giving all these wonderful animals a safe place to live out their lives. We especially enjoyed watching the magnificent Brutus and his sister Mia. Brutus seems to be a gentle giant, especially when taking his treats off the pole. We enjoyed both shows, and all of the hosts were very informative and funny. I also want to thank you for recognizing military members, active and retired with free admission. My husband is retired military, and we were not expecting this.

Great place to bring the family. We enjoyed seeing all the beautiful animals in this sanctuary space and were delighted with how hospitable the staff was. We felt welcomed and enjoyed the interactions with the animals. We loved the goat area and my son loved petting the mini goats. We enjoyed how close the animals were to the viewing public. We would recommend this spot to anyone interested in seeing exotic creatures loved and cared for. The food was excellent as well. Be prepares to have cash on hand for the mini experiences inside, i.e., face painting, buying animal snacks and pony rides. Bring sneakers as you may encounter muddy areas or step on goat poo.

Absolutely awesome place!! Animals are well cared for and staff was super friendly. Beautiful animals you can get super close to. Our daughter absolutely loved it! Will be back soon!

Support your local non for profit organizations. We love this place. Its small but all the staff is really knowledgeable about the animal and care a lot about them.

Amazing experience! Wonderful and knowledgeable staff.

Great mission, fantastic staff. A gem in Sarasota. my daughter ran around super excited to see all the animals and we were happy that the cause appears to be just and the family running it has been doing it for many years. The demonstration show was super entertaining.

Excellent place for people of all ages. Its nice to see a family that cares so much for the animals they care for. My favorite things were the tiger show, and feeding the bears and tigers.

Wow, what a fantastic place!! Beautiful animals, compassionate staff and volunteers, great facility! Learned the difference between animal rights and humane animal care. Highly recommended!!

This place is amazing! Im so glad we decided to go here instead of the zoo. They have lots of opportunities to interact with the animals. It does cost extra for feeding, etc., but its still a great value. My toddler was super excited to get to feed a white tiger. Its small and perfect sized for small children. We highly recommend it. When we left my toddler said, I loved this place, it was really fun!. Also, they have a liger, so interesting. Finally, the food prices are super reasonable, just be sure to know that besides entry, everything is cash only.

They deserve 10 Stars. As a animal lover and as professional U.S. traveler I will say this os the best big cat experience you will ever have. Support them and at the very least go and check this place out.Clayton and his family are top notch animal rescuers and trainers. Ive never seen anything like this in my life.The children will absolutely love this!

It was very clean & plenty of shade. We really enjoyed it!

Today was our second time here. We had a great day. Everyone was friendly and I feed 2 bears! We watched a great show and were educated on animals with a touch of humor. I think it is wonderful place to visit. I have always loved white tigers and saw 2 there along with many other tigers. Thank you for a nice day!

I had such a great time! Petting the goats and the llamas was my favorite. Highly recommend. The people do such a good job taking care of the animals.

My gf and I have been visiting the BCH every year. This a good organization even though we feel bad for the animals. They used to have a decent circus show as well... not sure if it is coming back.

Awesome experience for my 7 year old daughter. She loved everything about it. The petting area, the show and just walking around and seeing all the animals.Everyone there was very friendly and helpful. Definitely worth seeing for yourself. Next time we are in the area we will certainly be back!

You can feed the animals, the bears, the Emos, the tigers, Wolfe and lions!! Had an amazing time!! Most, if not all, the animals were moving and running, very engaged with what everyone was doing. Not like a normal zoo where the animals sit around and do nothing for hours. These animals actually did stuff. Running, playing with the other animals in their section of fence. And they are all rescued or given away. There is a petting area, that was amazing. Bring your kids! They have over 40 big cats (loins/tigers and even ligers). They have free performances where the rescued animals were taught some tricks. My wife and I had an amazing time!!!!

Me and my mother and my daughter visited this place last weekend and we fell in love with all of the animals here. They even had a newborn ring-tailed lemur and plenty of baby goats as well as a thousand-pound liger named Brutus plus plenty of other beautiful animals to see. I had been here many many years ago but I forgot about how amazing it was. We will definitely keep coming back and so should you!

Great place for animal watching! Not too crowded and easy walking for young and old. The staff did a great job there keeping the animals fed and watered.

Amazing experience to see animals up close. Knowing it is more of a sancuary, saving these animals from terrible circumstances is great. It is sad to see the animals in enclosures but knowing they saved them helps. The shows are a bit heavy on giving funds to help support, but understandable.

Awesome time. Military friendly. Cant wait till my little man wants to go again. He loves the goats and tigers.

I live like five minutes away from this place. You can here the lions at night time or the tigers whichever. Excited about visiting and been told its an awesome place to visit

It was a little pricey and the place is small. The staff was nice but overall just go to support their cause and do something different with the kiddos.

Great place to see animals up close, had a fun day there, kids will love it

It is an exotic animal rescue operation that also has a zoo like atmosphere to give you an up close look at the animals. For that you pay to help them pay for the care and upkeep of the exotic animals. They also have a petting area with goats for the young at heart. There are two shows in the afternoon we did not go to those events. It was an enjoyable time for a couple of hours in the afternoon.

Neat selection of animals.

Dont expect to come here and have it be like beautiful zoo or anything, it is after all a rescue habitat. The animals are in small enclosures (sadly). Its not a very big place and the live shows are really subpar. Most people walked out before the live shows were even over (theyre that bad). But the petting zoo was nice for the kids.I left here feeling really bad for the animals and stories about how they had been treated before they were rescued by the Big Cat Habitat. A lot of the animals here were rescued from retired circuses and people who had kept them as pets.Although its not the most fun place to visit, its worth making a donation to help the animals.

The place was fantastic! Clean and well kept. The animals were gorgeous!

Reptile show along with the cat and dog show were hilarious!! Totally worth the 18.00 planning on going back with friends who will be visiting. Loved the petting zoo and especially the emu’s . I actually hugged them it was so much fun. Please don’t complain about the cost it certainly goes for upkeep of the animals. The people who are volunteers deserve our upmost respect and admiration. Just go and c this place.

Big Cat Habitat was awesome! As soon as you walk in we saw Bears The Parrot show and the chimpanzee/tiger show were great! If you are visiting and you want to take the kids out, go visit this place

Very Kool place. Ligers and bears and monkeys and birds. All rescued. Forever home for wild animals people thought were cute pets. Great family

A wonderful experience. Animals seem to be happy and healthy. Definitely recommend.

I have been here a couple of times. It is a great place to see many BIG cats and also other animals. It is funny because if you visit the local Celery Fields early in the morning you can hear the lions from The Big Cat Habitat Roaring. They seem to take good care for their animals and are a good sanctuary and it is a fun place to visit in this area.

They have me a lot of information about the animals. I enjoyed the show.

The situation of these animals is unfortunate; they belong in the wild. After being taken from their natural habitat going home for them is no longer an option. Places like this make life a little easier for these beautiful creatures. They have my full support.

If you love Big cats, its a must to see.. I know that purists and so-called animal rights groups will hate the place, but they take really good care of animals that dont have anywhere else to survive. And they educate visitors about why they are there, and why they do what they do..I would come back anytime and I highly recommend others to do that and remember to appreciate their hard work with donations..Next time I come to Florida, I will visit them again..

This place is amazing! The animals are all really well taken care of. You can tell they really care there. I recommend this place for anyone, especially families. They have a lot of animal interaction and great shows there.

Excellent facility. I would love to work here!

Sooooooo many big cats. They seem pretty happy here. Well cared for. You can get really close to them.

My son walked away having had a great interactive experience. All I needed for 5 stars

We had such a wonderful time here! The animals are well taken care of and the family strives to teach as they entertain. A great hidden gem that should definitely get a spot on your itenirary!

What a great day trip with my family!! We were first greeted by a huge Kodiak bear that we got to feed and say hello to - much to our amazement he waved back at us! I enjoyed the baby goats in the petting zoo, some really funny monkeys, beautiful birds, and the Big Cat Show was great!! This patriotic establishment offers free admission to military and first responders and is handicapped friendly. I couldn’t have had a better day. You’ve earned my highest recommendations!!

We came down from Boston on vacation and stumbled across this gem. It was so nice to see the true love, care and compassion that the owners and staff had for these amazing animals. The animals all look so healthy and clean and you can get much closer than at any zoo Ive ever been too. The grounds were well maintained. The petting zoo was an absolute blast for both the kids and the adults. The afternoon show featured an incredible display of trained rescue dogs called the Pound Puppies, a chimpanzee named Chance (that must be a human in a costume) and two gigantic 500+ pounds cats that do incredible tricks. I commend the owners for providing this sanctuary and highly recommend taking an afternoon to enjoy and support the cause.