This sanctuary for big cats is located in a mountain canyon north of Los Angeles. Public tours are offered one weekend a month by advance reservation. The facility housed two African elephants in prior years, but both have since died. Most (if not all) of the resident animals are now big cats (with perhaps one or two smaller cat).
Website here: The Shambala Preserve presented by The Roar Foundation
The site began as a film set for the 1981 movie ROAR. Here is a promo clip:
The script called for lots of big cats together, but no one animal trainer had enough cats and different trainers refused to mix their cats with others (wisely so IMO). So they built the compound and gathered their own cats. After the filming they set up a foundation to keep the cats and eventually started accepting other unwanted cats. The lead film actress Tippi Hedren started and continues to run the sanctuary. Over time she adopted an anti-breeding and anti-zoo stance that several sanctuaries adopt. The foundation actively promotes legislation to ban big cat breeding and private ownership, which is one reason I do not support them. I did tour the facility many years ago and photos are in the gallery.
(Edit - the sentence I have changed to italics is my personal opinion which has sparked a separate debate. To keep from hijacking this news thread, that debate is now a separate thread that can be seen here: Private ownership of Big Cats in USA )
Website here: The Shambala Preserve presented by The Roar Foundation
The site began as a film set for the 1981 movie ROAR. Here is a promo clip:
The script called for lots of big cats together, but no one animal trainer had enough cats and different trainers refused to mix their cats with others (wisely so IMO). So they built the compound and gathered their own cats. After the filming they set up a foundation to keep the cats and eventually started accepting other unwanted cats. The lead film actress Tippi Hedren started and continues to run the sanctuary. Over time she adopted an anti-breeding and anti-zoo stance that several sanctuaries adopt. The foundation actively promotes legislation to ban big cat breeding and private ownership, which is one reason I do not support them. I did tour the facility many years ago and photos are in the gallery.
(Edit - the sentence I have changed to italics is my personal opinion which has sparked a separate debate. To keep from hijacking this news thread, that debate is now a separate thread that can be seen here: Private ownership of Big Cats in USA )
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