Captive Tiger Regulation Lags in the US

The wildlife trade monitoring group TRAFFIC and World Wildlife Fund jointly authored a comprehensive report on captive tiger regulations across the United States. Not a subject one would associate with the US, making such a study all the more important.

According to the report, the U.S. government has no way to determine how many tigers there are in captivity within its borders, where they are, who owns them, or what happens to their body parts when they die. Captive tigers include animals bred in zoos, used for entertainment in carnivals or promotional exhibits, housed at rescue facilities, and those privately owned. In many states there are no controls on individuals keeping tigers as pets. Current estimates indicate that there are more than 5,000 tigers in captivity in the United States, more than exist in the wild. A registration scheme for all captive tigers and a means to monitor disposal of dead tigers is urgently needed, according to the report.