The wonders of the wild are not entirely out of reach. At Sarasota’s Big Cat Habitat and Gulf Coast Sanctuary, visitors can explore, learn about and even interact with some of the world’s most exotic animals. The animal rescue and conservation center was founded in 1987, the familial operation of the Rosaire’s, a longtime Sarasota circus family. “I had stopped doing circuses at a certain point, because I was concerned about the plight of the endangered tigers and lions in the wild-they were really in trouble. There were also a lot of cats in this country that needed homes,” says Kay Rosaire, who founded the sanctuary with her family and manages it today with her son Clayton. “We’d taken in a tiger, Nadu, from some people that had planned on taking him to another country and they asked us if they could keep him at our place for a couple of weeks while they got the permits – well they never got the permits and they never returned. People heard that we’d taken him in and started asking if we’d adopt other animals in need.”