Class finishes habitat for tigers

By THERESE HOUNSELL CORRESPONDENT
Published Sunday, June 8, 2008 at 4:30 a.m.
Last updated Sunday, June 8, 2008 at 2:40 a.m.

Kay Rosaire stands outside the big cat exercise habitat, where Casey Altier's waterfall project is near completion, and speaks warmly of the girl who spent much of last year fundraising and coordinating material and labor costs to create something that brings pleasure to the tigers both women love so much.

Big Cat Habitat and Gulf Coast Sanctuary, a sprawling maze of chain-link-fenced pens, exotic animal habitats and circus performer and big-tent detritus, is hidden in plain sight.

The exotic animal sanctuary is just off Palmer Avenue in Sarasota, where Rosaire has operated the nonprofit since 1987, mostly from a cramped but well-cooled on-site trailer that serves as office and home.

She recalls meeting Altier last year and thinking there was much more to the Pine View School teenager than her focused concern for wildlife.

"Other kids have come out here and offered to build habitats," Rosaire said. "One kid wanted to construct an alligator pen, which we thought was great because so many people come to Florida and never see an alligator."

But plans for that project fell through, and for the last year the economy has pinched off financial support from some of the Habitat's corporate sponsors. Survival is not just a struggle in the wild, Rosaire said.

So when Altier came visiting last year at the encouragement of her Girl Scout leader, both women felt they found something special. "It was perfect," Altier recalled from her hospital bed at All Children's Hospital where the 18-year-old was taking her last round of chemotherapy the last week of May.

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