By Malone Morchower

With over 40 species in the world, cats, large and small, comprise one of the most diverse and widespread species. The feline family includes tigers, cheetahs, lions, snow leopards, jaguars, ocelots, and domestic cats. Although these cats all fall under the same umbrella, there is a tremendous difference between a 550-pound tiger that roams the savannahs and a 10-pound kitten that naps on your couch. Similarly, these species should be treated differently: my household cat cannot survive in the wilds of sub-Saharan Africa, and a house will never be an appropriate home for a tiger. 

Joe Exotic and one of his tigers. Photo credit: Trusted Reviews.

During the quarantine days of 2020, I watched the notorious Netflix series Tiger King, which focused on the drama surrounding a few different big cat zoos and sanctuaries in the United States. It never occurred to me that tigers would really exist in the U.S. besides in public zoos, but this show proved me wrong. Tiger King follows the storyline of Joe Exotic, a cruel ex-zookeeper, and his crimes against big cats. Exotic owned and controlled the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, from 1998 to 2018, until he was convicted in 2019 for violating the Lacey Act and the Endangered Species Act. The Lacey Act prohibits the trade of tigers, in this case, that have been owned illegally. The Endangered Species Act makes it illegal to possess, sell, or transfer any endangered animals. Exotic is just one extreme example of illegal activity surrounding the sector of big cats in America, but oftentimes this situation happens behind the scenes, where you would least expect it.

Tiger in captivity. Photo credit: Michelle Maria via Pxfuel.

According to the International Fund for Animal Welfare, about 10,000 big cats are being held in illegally in the United States. The article states that big cats are often kept “in private hands, menageries masquerading as rescue sanctuaries, and at unqualified roadside zoos operating with little oversight or accountability.” Cats often live in terrible conditions in these holding places. Foremost, animals like big cats are meant to be free, living in open areas where food and space are unlimited, so even keeping them in any kind of cage, no matter the size, is already immoral. When you add horrible living conditions with confined spaces and insufficient food to the mix, you can see the evil nature behind keeping big cats in captivity. 

In April 2020, The New York Times reported that the NYPD once rescued a 425-pound Siberian-Bengal tiger that Antoine Yates had kept in his apartment in Harlem, New York. The event took place 17 years earlier, in 2003. In 2001, Yates purchased his tiger, Ming, when he was only eight weeks old from a big cat dealer in Minnesota. Although Yates bought 20 pounds of chicken thighs a day and built training contraptions for Ming, an apartment in New York City was never going to be an appropriate home for a tiger. 

The author of the article, Corey Kilgannon, explains that Yates planned on building a place for all different types of animals to interact with each other, and that Ming was just the start of his project. In an interview, Yates described this sanctuary as a “Garden of Eden.” A severe incident prevented this plan from happening though. 

In October 2003, Yates brought home a neglected kitten. He tried keeping the smaller and larger cats away from each other, but one day they met, and this encounter changed everything. Ming went two years without attacking his owner, but as soon as Yates tried to step in to save the kitten, Ming attacked. Yates suffered wounds on his arms and legs and visited Harlem Hospital Center. He told the doctors he was attacked by a pit bull, but the large gashes proved otherwise. After this event, the police went to Yates’ apartment and discovered Ming. The officers then removed Ming from the apartment and relocated him to Noah’s Lost Ark animal sanctuary in Ohio.  

Although the authorities charged Yates with illegally possessing and endangering an animal, Yates still wanted his tiger back after five months in jail. Yates wasn’t convinced he ever did anything wrong, as he believed he had given Ming a wonderful life. This is often the problem for those who improperly care for tigers. People think they’re doing tigers a favor by feeding them, providing shelter, and being their best friend, but they’re actually doing the opposite. These people are taking wild animals away from their natural habitat, minimizing their opportunities, and stripping them of their born freedoms.   

Not only do tigers live in captivity in individuals’ homes, but also in zoos all around the United States. In a 2019 National Geographic article, Sharon Guynup explains that “captive tigers in the U.S. outnumber those in the wild.” Most of these tigers are being kept in backyards; roadside attractions where their job is to make money. Oftentimes, owners of roadside zoos do not know how to properly and safely care for tigers. For example, the article describes that at Myrtle Beach Safari in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, tiger cubs who have been ripped away from their mothers after birth are part of a package where “having photos taken with them run from $339 to $689 a person.” In this case, the owners of the safari are profiting off tigers while putting the people taking pictures with the cubs in danger. A small, cute baby tiger could pounce on a human at any moment, as they are wild animals. If these tigers are not properly fed, they could attack a person out of hunger. A worker bled to death at the now-discontinued Safari Joe’s Zoological Park in Adair, Oklahoma in 2003 when an extremely hungry tiger bit her arm. Constraining tigers puts both humans and tigers at risk. 

Typically, when money becomes the motivation for holding a tiger in captivity, the tiger’s conditions deteriorate. In an interview, Upper School science teacher Sandra Marr said that “in all captive settings, animals struggle to be happy,” and when zookeepers and owners do not prioritize their happiness over money or popularity, these animals are being mistreated. Privately owned zoos usually charge a fee to visit the zoo, so their motivation is attracting paying visitors. Marr followed up by saying, “if the primary objective is profit, then choices are made that may not be in the best interest of the animals or the habitats in which they originated.” 

Two Amur Tigers at the Pittsburgh Zoo. Photo credit: Sage Ross via Wikimedia Commons.

Although there are regulations surrounding private zoos and privately owned wild animals, people still get around these regulations and physically and mentally abuse their animals. Zoos and individuals should not own tigers unless their motivation is getting these tigers back in the wild, or if the zoo’s policies and methods are based on research and the conservation of animals and their habitats. For example, the Pittsburgh Zoo spends research dollars on conservation, and they offer several animal protection programs, including the Sea Turtle Second Chance Program, African Primate Protection, and ocelot conservation. In order to have tigers in captivity, Marr says the owners must be “thinking about environmental enrichment, keeping their minds stimulated, and keeping them in social groups.” Animals have emotions just like people, and neglecting these emotions is considered mistreatment. Marr says this neglect can stem from “humans thinking they are apart from the natural system, but in reality, humans are a part of the natural system,” just like animals. Another way to improve tigers’ conditions is to protect land and acquire land for conservation. When discussing ways to reverse the damage that has been done to natural land, Marr says “even land that was once a building and a parking lot, nature will take over if you let it.” Just allowing nature to simply exist helps animals exponentially. 

A scene from Maymont in the fall. Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons user Youssefjs.

In Richmond and all around Virginia, there are ways individuals can physically help tigers and all types of wild animals. If wildlife is your passion, go volunteer at a local nonprofit; you will learn while helping your natural community. Nearby, Maymont offers several different volunteering opportunities, spanning from animal keepers to gardeners at the Robins Nature Center and animal exhibits to estate greeters.

Maymont cares for injured animals native to Virginia, and these animals cannot re-enter the wild due to their injuries. Maymont’s goal is to teach its visitors about the natural beauties of wildlife in Virginia. In Waynesboro, the Wildlife Center of Virginia provides training opportunities to those who want to treat sick or injured animals. The center treats local wildlife so that they can ultimately be released back into the wild. This training includes veterinary training, rehabilitation training, and education outreach training. Animal biodiversity helps balance every ecosystem on Earth. For example, tigers play a critical role in their ecosystems by preying on herbivores to maintain vegetation.

In the last 40 years, tigers have become an endangered species, but the extinction rate can be slowed if people respect tigers’ homelands, support endangered animal laws, protect natural habitats, and treat animals with kindness.