It is estimated that there are three times as many tigers in captivity worldwide than in the wild (UNODC, 2020). Combining wild and captive tigers, China has the largest tiger population, with the United States coming in second and India in third (UNODC, 2020). It is believed that 8,000 tigers are in captive facilities across China, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam (Bale, 2018). Some of these facilities are zoos and conservation centers, while others are tiger breeding farms (Bale, 2018). In the image below you can see how many tigers have been confiscated by country between 2000 and 2018.
Tiger breeding centers were created as an effort to reduce poaching wild tigers but still have tigers for their body parts for status and medicinal purposes (Bale, 2018). China first had a tiger breeding center in the mid-1980s (Bale, 2018). These breeding centers erase the stigma associated with using tiger body parts and encourages a false narrative of how these animals can be pets (Bale, 2018). The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) estimates that 38% of tigers that were seized between 2010 and mid-2018 came from captive breeding centers (Bale, 2018). Tiger breeding centers claim they are assisting in conservation efforts but they do not because they are using generic tigers rather than species specific tigers (CTR, 2020). Meaning they are breeding different tiger subspecies together rather than breeding the subspecies.
There are an estimated 5,000 tigers in America, which is more than the wild tiger population (WWF Tiger Farms, 2020). The majority of the 5,000 tigers are privately owned as pets by people who are not trained in how to care for a wild animal (WWF Tiger Farms, 2020). Many of these tigers are used for cub petting where people pay to take pictures with tiger cubs (WWF Tiger Farms, 2020).
Cub petting may seem like a cute and cuddly way to be able to hold a baby tiger, but it is dangerous for the cub. Cubs are taken from their mothers at birth and are only used for about four weeks before they are too big and dangerous to be around customers (CTR, 2020). In the wild, cubs are weaned from their mother's milk around six months and they stay with their mother for about two years (CTR, 2020). The cubs are declawed, so they cannot scratch visitors, and defanged, so they cannot bite the visitors (CTR, 2020). With no claws or fangs, these cubs have no way to protect themselves. The cubs are also fed poorly to keep them small, so they can be used longer, and drugged so visitors can hold them (CTR, 2020). When a cub is too big or old they are deemed ‘useless’ and too expensive to feed so they are killed, sold in the black market, or sold as pets. (CTR, 2020; WWF Tiger Farms, 2020).
As cute as they are, tigers do not make good pets. In August 2017 a Bengal tiger cub was confiscated at the U.S.-Mexico border leaving Mexico and trying to enter the United States (CBS8, 2017). The cub was bought in Tijuana, Mexico for $300 to be used as a pet (CBS8, 2017).The cub was taken to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park where veterinary staff estimated the cub to be between five and six weeks old (CBS8, 2017). The cub, named Moka, soon had a friend as the Safari Park received Rakan, a Sumatran tiger from the National Zoo who was neglected by his mother. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had legal custody of Moka but he stayed and was cared for at the Safari Park until a permanent home could be found for him (Fikes, 2018). Moka could not remain at the Safari Park because like most cubs that enter the illegal pet trade he is a hybrid of several tiger species (KUSI, 2018). As a hybrid he would not be able to enter the San Diego Zoo Global breeding program, unlike Rakan who will be representing his subspecies when he is older (KUSI, 2018). In June 2018 Moka was relocated to Lions, Tigers and Bears, an animal sanctuary in Alpine, California (Fikes, 2018). Lions, Tigers and Bears is a big cat and exotic animal rescue accredited sanctuary (LTB, 2020).
Photo of Moka and Rakan as cubs
Saving Moka: The True Tale of a Rescued Tiger Cub, written by Georgeanne Irvine, will be released in October 2020 as part of the Hope & Inspiration series of true stories of animals who face and overcome challenges at the San Diego Zoo.
In February 2019 the Big Cat Public Safety Act (H.R. 1380) was introduced to congress (WWF Tiger Farms, 2020). This act would prohibit ownership of big cats and public contact with cubs as well as reduce the risk of tiger parts from the United States entering the illegal wildlife trade (WWF Tiger Farms, 2020).
Ways you can help tigers escape from the illegal pet trade:
Ask your member of Congress to cosponsor the Big Cat Public Safety Act.
Do not support cub petting or any facility that allows cub petting.
Do not support the illegal wildlife trade.
*Tiger in photograph is Moka and Rakan as cubs at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, taken by Helene Hoffman. You can visit her Flickr account.
Literature Cited
AC Team 2. (2019, August 24). 2019 report by “TRAFFIC” reveals 2000 tigers poached over the
past 19 years. Affairs Cloud. https://affairscloud.com/2019-report-by-traffic-reveal s-2000-tigers-poached-over-the-past-19-years/
Bale, R. (2018, July 29). Exclusive: Illegal tiger trade fed by ‘tiger farms’, new evidence reveals.
National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2018/07/wildlife
Carolina Tiger Rescue. (2019). What cub petting really is.
CBS8. (2017, August 25). A Bengal tiger cub smuggled into the U.S. from Mexico was in good
condition Friday at the San Diego Zoo’s Safari Park. https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/confiscated-tiger-cub-finds-shelter-at-san-diego-zoo-safari-park/509-d8b0bada-c457-4cf7-8ac1-a1d79239c667#:~:text=A%20Bengal%20tiger%20cub%20smuggled,San%20Diego%20Zoo's%20Safari%20Park.&text=SAN%20DIEGO%20(CNS)%20%2D%20A,San%20Diego%20Zoo's%20Safari%20Park.
Fikes, B.J. (2018, June 8). Confiscated tiger cub finds permanent home in Alpine sanctuary.
The San Diego Union-Tribune. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/zoo/sd -me-moka-tiger-relocated-20180608-story.html
KUSI. (2018, June 19). Moka the tiger arrives at his new home, the Lions, Tigers & Bears
rescue facility in Alpine. https://www.kusi.com/moka-the-tiger-arrives-at-his-new-
Lions Tigers & Bears. (2020). About Us. https://www.lionstigersandbears.org/about-us
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2020, May). World wildlife crime report: Trafficking
in protected species. https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/wildlife/2020/World_Wildlife_Report_2020_9July.pdf
World Wildlife Fund. (2020). Shutting down tiger farms.
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