Big Cat Welfare Fund

Big Big Cat Experiences is facing the biggest challenge in our long history. The COVID-19 (Corona Virus) pandemic has resulted in us not being able to run our educational experiences. This has severely affected the income generated to be able to fund the feeding, security and overall well-being of our amazing big cats which we strive to protect and enrich. That is why we are asking for any donations towards staff wages, food, security, and veterinarian care in order to continue offering our animals a safe haven.

On average, food for our big cats can cost anything in the region of R15 000 per month and staff wages (including full-time security) costs R29 000 per month.

Please consider donating any spare change during these hard times to ensure the well-being of our animals behind the scenes.

The Big Cat Experiences story started in 1966 in Beitbridge, Southern Rhodesia. Political instability in the region had led to fighting, and in one case, a nearby firefight had set fire to the bush. A game ranger named, Don Stot, rescued a casualty of the war - a week-old lion cub that had been caught in the fire and lost its mother.

Don took the Lion cub to Ossie and Joyce Bristow (our Great Grandparents) at Bishopstone Estate, who hand-reared the cub to adulthood, unwittingly setting their lives on a path of playing foster parents to an array of other orphaned animals from that day forward, resulting in Joyce and Ossie founding the Lion and Cheetah Park in Zimbabwe, which is now regarded as a national heritage site.

Amid the land claims in the early 2000s, we were able to relocate some of our animals from Zimbabwe to South Africa, where we pride ourselves in offering our unique experiences and education through interaction where we strive to raise awareness against poaching and fight for conservation.

We are proud to be the fourth generation to be working with and safeguarding our majestic animals.