Sadly, though, captive tigers are not that uncommon in the United States, and they are very poorly regulated. Tigers are an endangered species, meant to be protected rather than treated as some sort of sideshow pet. Less than 3,300 tigers remain in the wild today, and those numbers are not helped at all by the smuggling in of the dwindling species for people who want to keep them as status symbols. More tigers are alive in captivity within the U.S.—more than 5,000 are estimated to be “owned” within the country—but their whereabouts, treatment, and fates are not known due to loopholes in current legislation surrounding exotic animals.
These are wild, untamed, incredibly powerful animals who deserve to stalk prey, travel for miles, and maintain their own majestic wonder in the jungle—not be adorned with glittery collars for spectacle in some rich man’s boudoir. Captive tigers are not fully monitored in the United States, either.
Loopholes around allowing their sale and ownership—imagine, “owning” a tiger! It’s unthinkable—exist, and there is no way for U.S. officials to track the captive tigers sold or bought in the country, let alone even determine how many there currently are. We don’t follow up on how these big cats are treated, either; who knows of their abuses? They’re not only kept as pets, remember, but also killed and used for coats, bags, rugs, and other “status symbols” created from their hides—something that no one can argue helps their endangered species status.
We need to ask Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to do something about it. Help put an end to tiger poaching and make sure that the U.S. monitors further tiger sales and the fates of these tigers. Ideally, the practice would wholly be outlawed; we can at least require tiger “owners” and sellers to register their tigers for tracking. Please sign this open letter to the Secretaries asking for their vital participation in these measures.