The Safe Haven Wildlife Center near Chicago, one of just a handful of places around the country equipped to handle the big cats and nurse them back to health, is moving from its current five-acre site to a 160-acre location in Nevada.
Safe Haven will move to northwestern Nevada, outside Reno, after center founder and director Linda Sugasa and her husband, David, sell their Illinois home, they say.
The center has had to turn down 50 big cats from across the country in the last year because of lack of space. The new location is expected to allow the haven to shelter about 40 cats instead of four.
The Sugasas moved to Illinois 10 years ago and actually bought the four-acre property before having any idea of opening a wildlife rehabilitation center and sanctuary.
Linda Sugasa said she came up with the idea when she found an injured raccoon and learned there was nowhere to take it for treatment. The center receives no government funding and relies on private donations and volunteers to run the facility.