By Ryan Gillespie

Orlando Sentinel

HOLOPAW, Fla. — With his handlers looking on anxiously, the royal white Bengal tiger scoped out his new home Monday.

The 750-pound cat named Michelob first patrolled the perimeter of his fenced and covered enclosure and then wandered through a wooden den. Finally, he climbed into his new concrete swimming pool. When the massive feline rubbed his face on the outer wall of the pool, the volunteers sighed and smiled as the cat appeared to signal his approval.

Michelob was among 25 large cats moved this week by the Central Florida Animal Reserve from a smaller facility in Cocoa to a new home in a far-flung corner of Osceola County.

“It’s breathtaking,” Dr. K. “Simba” Wiltz, CEO of the nonprofit, said of the move. “It’s been emotional, and really, it’s the start of a new chapter for the organization.”

For nearly 20 years, the organization’s large cats — including lions, a cougar and a leopard — were living in enclosures in the 2-acre backyard of one of the group’s board members.

It has been a distant dream to move them to a more permanent home with roomier enclosures. After finally raising the $1.2 million needed to lease the land, build 16 aluminum-roofed barns to house the cats and pay for the move, that dream became a reality.

As the final enclosure was shut and all of the cats were safely in place, one volunteer wiped a tear from her eye.

“For all of us, these are our kids,” said Wiltz, 37, of Orlando. “These cats we’ve sacrificed for, we’ve had to find a way to make a space for them.”

Most of the cats made the 60-mile journey west the weekend of July 22. The following Monday, the final four tigers — Wakin, Honey, Michelob and Raz — were secured into wheeled traveling cages in Cocoa, and volunteers loaded them into a trailer. Two of the four tigers were sedated briefly to complete the move safely.

About 11 a.m., the truck rolled into the Osceola County facility.

Next, about a half-dozen volunteers helped wheel the cages, with help from a small tractor, to each cat’s designated barn. The volunteers lined up the smaller cage with the opening to the larger enclosure, before pulling open a slat to release the tiger into its new home.

When he got to his enclosure, Wakin, a massive male white tiger, bounded from the travel cage and entered his new digs. Later, Raz, a three-legged white Bengal, scampered into her enclosure as Michelob looked on nearby.

“(Wakin) has a good nature to him,” said Wiltz, who works as a pharmacist. “He’s really big and impressive to see, and has always been a cat that people have enjoyed being around. We’re really looking forward to sharing his personality with people.”

Each enclosure at the 10-acre facility has a pool and a den. Some have toys such as bowling balls or bowling pins.

Wiltz said the organization acquired most of the cats from owners who couldn’t care for them any longer or keep up with their expensive diets. The tigers, for example, eat as much as 10 to 12 pounds of beef or chicken per day.

Dr. Tom Blue, a Brevard County dentist who is president of the group’s board of directors, said the facility will soon have public tours and eventually educational programs with schools and other organizations. But for now, the facility is closed as the cats get acclimated to their new homes.

The organization aims to open its gates in October.

“This is a lot more conducive situation for the animals to be seen by the public,” Blue said. “They need to be seen. They’re being persecuted in the wild.”