Queen of the beasts: just a few miles east of downtown, big-hearted circus matriarch Kay Rosaire rules over a menagerie of rescued animals at her Big Cat Habitat and Gulf Coast Sanctuary. (2024)

EVENING IS SETTLING across a green and sweltering swatch oftropical, savanna-like land. The ibis are coming home to roost in theirwhite-winged flocks, while the frogs in the murky waterways that linethe safari's path are setting up their nightly chorus of croaks.Suddenly, the lord of this lawless terrain offers the world a loudannouncement of his presence, a deep-throated roar that carries formiles.

Sound like Africa? As neighbors in the subdivision across PalmerBoulevard are happy to tell me, it's not. It's our very ownSarasota, and they can hear the lions roaring from their patios day andnight. My "safari"--consisting of me and my two kids in theircar seats behind me in our Subaru--takes me just east of 1-75 nearFruitville, past the running track and hill at Celery Fields RecreationArea, to a gated gravel road minutes from downtown. The A/C has barelyhad a chance to cool down the car, and my kids are already hooting thatthey've spotted something--"Oooo. Dad, oooo! Look!" mythree-year-old daughter shouts in excitement. "A humpy-thing!"

"That's a camel: I say with a grin, spying a pair of thesedate-looking dromedaries in the adjoining field as I pull into theparking lot.

Where we've come is Sarasota's best-kept secret, the BigCat Habitat and Gulf Coast Sanctuary. I've been here half a dozentimes over the past couple years, and it's among the places Iconsider "The Highlights of Fun and Amazement in Sarasota"There are so many things to like about this refuge for charismaticmega-fauna, not the least of which is how close it is to town. Bycomparison, the admittedly wonderful trip out to see the 'gators atMyakka State Park requires all day, a picnic basket, and a plan to keepthe kids entertained in the car. The Big Cat Habitat, on the other hand,is just a mile and a half from the Fruitville library.

One of the best things about a visit to the lions, tigers, bears,leopards, panthers, birds, and yes, even camels that call this sanctuaryhome is that the refuge is not-for-profit and the price of admissiongoes to the upkeep of the animals. But the Big Cat Habitat also supportsthe preservation of something else vitally important to our city'sunique and historic identity: the circus.

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The Rosaire family that lives on the sprawling compound and tendsthe animals like beloved pets traces its circus roots to the courtjesters of England. Kay, the matriarch of this extended traveling clanof animal trainers, is the eighth generation in her line, and she'sone of the few women in the world to work with big cats. Her son,Clayton, 31, is the ninth generation, and the only remaining performerin the United States to put his head in lions' mouths.

The family first came to the United States in 1960, when Kay'slate father, Derrick Rosaire Sr., performed on the Ed Sullivan Show withhis act, "Rosaire and Tony the Wonder Horse." That led tostints in Atlantic City, touring performances with various troupes,training "Gentle Ben the Bear" of '70s-era TV fame, andeventually--like so many other circus families, including the FlyingWallendas, who the Rosaire kids went to school with--winter breaks andpermanent settlement in Sarasota. Derrick Sr. even performed at theWhite House and is enshrined at St. Armands' Circus Ring of Fame.

Kay and her siblings each specialized in the "gentletraining" of different kinds of animals. Kay worked with big cats,Ellian with horses, Pamela with chimpanzees, and Derrick Jr.--who passedaway two years ago--with bears. Along with Clayton and his big cats,other ninth-generation Rosaires include Pamela's daughter, Dallas,who works with dogs, and Derrick Jr.'s sons, who are trained tohandle bears. The whole family is honored with a display at the RinglingCircus Museum. In 2008, they were also the subject of a feature-lengthfilm, Circus Rosaire, which highlights their lifelong dedication totheir animals.

Today, my kids and I slowly--and somewhat nervously--make our waypast the dozens of cages where huge cats and bears loll, pace,occasionally growl, and splash in their personal pools for a small armyof camera-toting tourists. We stop for cotton candy at the concessionstand, then feed/fend off the little goats that swarm us at the pettingzoo.

There's a festival feel to any visit to the Habitat; peopleare starting to take their seats in the performance building where theRosaires will soon put on one of their daily animal-trainingdemonstrations. The star today is slated as "Chance," aprecious young chimpanzee whose act I've seen before and like evenmore than the massive, scary, leaping tigers. Most of Chance'sshtick is intended for simple laughs; his trainer, Pamela Rosaire, playsstraight man in the ring to his wild Jerry Lewis-style pratfalls andgeneral habit of ignoring her every command.

More than 100 animals call the Habitat home, and visiting Kay inher trailer at the refuge's far end before the show, I can see shefeels a personal kinship to all of them. Her refrigerator is decoratedwith as many pictures of lions as it is of her grandchildren, andit's hard to tell in conversation whether she's talking aboutone of her human relations, or, say, a tiger. She has a tiger-themedclock, tiger statues, tiger bookends, tiger-skin-patterned chairs, andshe's wearing leopard-print slippers. Outside her front door, theLatest additions to her family, two rambunctious tiger cubs in their bigenclosure, are entertaining my captivated kids.

"Originally, I just wanted to save animals," Kay tells meas a handful of volunteers pop in and out to discuss various issues withher--the construction of a new building to house elephants, educationaloutreach programs involving local schools, and the donations of meat andproduce for the animals from area vendors like Sweetbay, Whole Foods,and Inter City Meats. "I especially wanted to save the big cats,because nobody else would take them. All of these animals are born incaptivity. Releasing a non-native species--people who turn snakesloose--it's just wrong. People [who buy exotic animals] must becommitted for the life of the animal; they don't realize how longthe animals live. A lot of the animals outlive their owners. Many of ourbirds are in their 60s."

Every training demonstration at the Habitat includes a conversationbetween the Rosaires and their audiences about the ethics of keepinganimals in captivity. It's a discussion that Kay knows iscontentious, and she revisits it with me as she shows off a"Certificate of Excellence" the Habitat has just received fromTripAdvisor, a popular online vacation planning website. She tells me,"We're federally licensed to do what we do. Our animals aretreated really well. I once took in seven lions in one go. A few yearsago I had 12 animals from photo booths. Local humane societies do thebest they can. Our mission is to provide a safe place for these animalsto live out their lives. Otherwise they would be euthanized."

Caring for so many large, exotic animals is expensive,time-consuming, and a day-and-night labor of love. Founding the Habitatin 1987 on land left to her by her father, Kay initially supported herrescued animals out-of-pocket from her traveling performance earnings.But as the menagerie grew over the years, she sought out volunteers andcharitable contributions. In 1996, the Habitat was incorporated as anonprofit, and it has since hosted annual animal-education programs forSarasota and Manatee schools. Last year, 35,000 people visited.

Pattie Walsh, a conservation biologist and director of research andoperations at the Lemur Conservation Foundation in Myakka City, recentlytreated a sick ring-tailed lemur at the Habitat. "[TheHabitat's] spacious and well-lit cages directly contribute andbenefit the animals' welfare." she tells me. "As with allnonprofits, times can be tough and there are ups and downs, but they areable to prioritize and have invested in the animals' health whenneeded. They are giving a home to animals that have limited options.They are slowly introducing their cats to an appropriate life with morefree choice, which is hard to do in a captive setting."

Aside from visitors eager for close encounters with Bengal tigersand grizzly bears, the Habitat has also attracted the sort of loyalvolunteers who think of the sanctuary as a second home."Volunteering here is the best day in the whole world," saysMarsha Vezin, a member of the Diva Angels women's motorcycle club,which has raised thousands of dollars to support the Habitat. "Ijust love being out here. I'm 'generally useful'--I talkto people and clean up. I love the way the animals are treated. They eatreally beautiful food. The [Rosaires] built the lions and tigers abeautiful house, and Kay lives in a trailer."

Donna Defant, another Diva Angels volunteer at the Habitat, tellsme, "Kay's not about collecting animals. She educates peopleabout what's going on in the world, the poaching of tigers, whichnonprofit organizations are operating for the animals' benefit andwhich are out for their own benefit. She's rescued animals fromcircuses, Hollywood, [abandoned] pets. She's an activist foranimals."

Over at the packed performance building, my kids and I take ourringside seats as Habitat staff member Meg Ozbirn warms up the crowdwith the help of "Salt," a beautiful rescued macaw who shetells us spent 20 years in a small cage. As Salt does a spot-onimpression of a chainsaw to the laughter of the rows of kids, Ozbirnexplains, "When an animal comes to the Habitat, it will never haveto be 're-homed.'" Soon, Pamela Rosaire enters the ringwith the three-year-old Chance, and the naughty chimp steals the showwith his stupendous tumbling and misbehavior. Every time he does a backflip off the table set out for him, I tell my grinning children,"No way, amigos. Don't even think about it."

Of course, the act ends with Pamela gathering her beloved"son" in her arms, and Chance planting a big wet kiss on her.She laughs to the happy crowd, "He kisses better than my husband.And he's a lot better looking, too!"

On our way out, my kids beg to feed the bears, and my 25-pound,two-year-old son fearlessly pokes a stick with a sausage link on the endof it into the slurping mouth of a half-ton brown bear. Clayton,Kay's son who has followed in his mother's footsteps, stopsby; tomorrow, he's going on the road with his big cat act. Lastyear, the kids and I saw his show here. It's filled with some ofthe worst one-liners ever told (Example: "Hey, kids, you know whylions can't talk? Because the cat's got their tongue.Ba-dum-DUM"), only forgivable because he delivers the groan-worthypunch lines as huge tigers run in frighteningly close circles aroundhim.

His mother told me earlier that when Clayton was a teenager, shealways knew when he was sneaking home late at night because the lionswould start roaring. She claims credit for setting him up with his wifeof four years, Danielle--who herself is part of a flying trapeze family.Now the couple's two small children, Ella Marie and Clayton Jr.,often make appearances at the end of Habitat shows--the 10th generationof performing Rosaires.

Listening to Clayton's stories of spending his childhood withbig cats and now performing with them all over America, I'm enviousof how different circus people's lives are from mine, and in thecase of the Rosaires, how closely knit they are. The family will ridehorses together later this evening as a way of saying goodbye to him.(Clayton's aunt, Ellian Rosaire, operates Rosaire's RidingAcademy.)

"I've had both arms bitten through; one tried to bitethrough my skull," Clayton tells me of working with his cats, histrademark good humor somehow making the dangers of his job seem like anyother day at the office. "My wife trusts me. She hopes I'mcapable. We're one of the most famous animal handling families. Inthe end, we choose to do it. 'The pride is the pride: We loveanimals and what we do. We love to show the public how important, howamazing these animals are."

For circus veteran and animal rescuer Kay Rosaire, below, liferevolves around the wild creatures she's saved and nurtures at herBig Cat Habitat--lions, tigers, lemurs and more.

VISIT THE SANCTUARY

Big Cat Habitat and Gulf Coast Sanctuary, 7101 Palmer Blvd., (941)371-6377 (Wednesday-Sunday, 4:30-7 p.m., $15 adults, $7 children, freeparking, animal training demonstrations at 5:30 p.m., holiday hoursvary)

Everyone gets in on the act at Big Cat Habitat: volunteers andaudience members, a hungry lemur, trainer pamela Rosa ire Zopp with babychimp Chance, a rescued bear, performing tigers and lions, andninth-generation performer and Kay's son, Clayton Rosaire, posingwith his cats.

RESCUING TONY

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Like all animals at Big Cat Habitat and Gulf Coast Sanctuary,"Tony," a nine-year-old Bengal tiger, traveled a winding roadto his permanent home in Sarasota. Born in captivity, Tony wasdiscovered working as a photo cat in a Texas flea market by PamelaRosaire Zopp, eight years ago. When Pam saw Tony, she knew he was wellbeyond the weight guidelines for the use of big cats in the photoindustry. She approached the man running the operation, who told her hedidn't know where Tony would go after he "retired."Knowing that many big cats used in the photo trade are euthanized, Pamoffered an alternative: Tony could live permanently at Big Cat Habitatand Gulf Coast Sanctuary. "Tony the Tiger" now shares anenclosure with "King," his large male lion cage mate.Described by the staff as a sweet and lovable guy, Tony can be seenplaying with Boomer Balls, large plastic balls used for animalenrichment, and lounging in the pool with his friend, King, nearby.

Big Cat Habitat and Gulf Coast Sanctuary does not endorse the useof big cats in the photo industry and strongly encourages people torefrain from getting their pictures taken with these magnificentcreatures, as it only contributes to their exploitation.

Tony D'Souza is the author of three novels; his most recent,Mule, is set in Sarasota. He wrote "Eyes Wide Shut" in ourSeptember Guide to Giving issue.