Tiger King and Americas captive tiger problem – The Jakarta Post – Jakarta Post

Netflixs new docuseries Tiger King takes viewers into the strange world of big cat collectors. Featuring eccentric characters with names like Joe Exotic and Bhagavan Doc Antle, the series touches on polygamy, addiction and personality cults, while exploring a mysterious disappearance and a murder-for-hire.

To Allison Skidmore, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of California, Santa Cruz who studies wildlife trafficking, the documentary didnt bring enough attention to the scourge of captive big cats.

A former park ranger, Skidmore first started studying the issue in the U.S. after the infamous death ofCecil the Lionin Zimbabwe in 2015. She was shocked to learn about how little oversight there was stateside. We asked her about the legality, incentives and ease of buying and selling tigers.

1. How many captive tigers are in the US?

Unfortunately, theres no straightforward answer. The vast majority of captive tigers are crossbred hybrids, so they arent identified as members of one of thesix tiger subspecies the Bengal tiger, Amur tiger, South China tiger, Sumatran tiger, Indochinese tiger and Malayan tiger. Instead, theyre classified as generic.

Less than 5 percent orfewer than 350 of tigers in captivity are managed through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, a nonprofit organization that serves as an accrediting body in the U.S. They ensure accredited facilities meet higher standards of animal care than required by law.

All the rest are privately owned tigers, meaning they dont belong to one of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums 236 sponsored institutions. These are considered generic and fall outside of federal oversight.

Theres no legal requirement to register these generic tigers, nor a comprehensive national database to track and monitor them. The best educated guess puts the number of tigersat around 10,000in the U.S. Estimates put the global captive tiger populationas high as 25,000.

In comparison, there are fewer than4,000 tigers in the wild down from 100,000 a century ago.

2. How do tigers change hands?

TheEndangered Species Actand theConvention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Faunaprevent the importation of tigers from the wild. So all tigers in the U.S. are born in captivity, with the rare exception of an orphaned wild cub that may end up in a zoo.

Only purebred tigers that are one of the six definitive subspecies are accounted for; these are the tigers you see in places like theSmithsonian National Zooand generally belong to theSpecies Survival Plan, a captive breeding program designed to regulate the exchange of specific endangered species between member zoos in order to maintain genetic diversity.

All other tigers are found in zoos, sanctuaries, carnivals, wildlife parks, exhibits and private homes that arent sanctioned by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. They can change hands in any number of ways, fromonline marketplacesto exotic animal auctions. They can be bought for as little asUS$800 to $2,000 for a cub and $200 to $500 for an adult, which is less expensive than many purebred dog puppies.

3. Can I legally buy a tiger?

The U.S. is plagued with complicated and vague laws concerning tiger ownership.

However, there are no federal statutes or regulations that expressly forbid private ownership of tigers. State and local jurisdictions have been given this authority,and some do pass bans or require permits. Thirty-two states have bans or partial bans, and 14 states allow ownership with a simple license or permit. Four states Alabama, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Nevada have no form of oversight or regulation at all.

An overarching, cohesive framework of regulations is missing, and even in states that ban private ownership, there are loopholes. For example, in all but three states, owners can apply for whats called a federal exhibitor license, which is remarkably cheap and easy to obtain andcircumvents any stricter state or local laws in place.

You nowneed a permitto transport tigers across state lines, but theres still no permit required for intra-state travel.

4. Whats in it for the owners?

Some see it as a business venture, while others claim they care about conservation. I consider the latter reason insincere.

Many facilitiespromote themselvesaswildlife refuges or sanctuaries. These places frame their breeding and exhibition practices as stewardship, as if theyre contributing to an endangered animals survival. The reality is thatno captive tiger has ever been released into the wild, so its not like these facilities can augment wild populations. A true sanctuary or refuge should have a strict no breeding or handling policy, and should have education programs dedicated to promoting conservation.

Ultimately, tigers are big money makers, especially tiger cubs. TheAnimal Welfare Actallows cub petting from eight to 12 weeks of age.People pay$100 to $700 to pet, bottle-feed, swim with or take a photo with a cub.

None of these profits go toward the conservation of wild tigers, and this small window of opportunity for direct public contact means that exhibitors must continually breed tigers to maintain a constant supply of cubs.

The value of cubs declines significantly after 12 weeks. Where do all these surplus tigers go? Unfortunately, due to a lack of regulatory oversight, its hard to know.

Since many states dont account for their live tigers, theres alsono oversight regarding the reporting and disposal of dead tigers. Wildlife criminologists fear that these tigers can easily end up in the black market where their parts can cumulativelybe worth up to $70,000. Theres evidence of U.S. captive tigers tied to the domestic black market trade: In 2003, an owner of a tiger rescue facilitywas found to have 90 dead tigers in freezers on his property. And in 2001,an undercover investigationled by theU.S. Fish and Wildlife Serviceended up leading to the prosecutions of 16 people for buying, selling and slaughtering 19 tigers.

5. What role does social media play?

Posing with tigerson social media platforms like Instagram and on dating apps has become a huge problem. Not only can it create a health and safety risk forboth the human and tiger, but it also fosters a false narrative.

If you see thousands of photos ofpeople with captive tigers, it masks the true problem of endangered tigers in the wild. Some might wonder whether tigers are really so endangered if theyre so easy to pose with.

The reality of the wild tigers plight has become masked behind the pomp and pageantry of social media. This marginalizes meaningful ideas about conservation and the true status of tigers as one of the most endangered big cats.

***

Allison Skidmore is aPhD Candidate in Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz

This article was first published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.

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Tiger King and Americas captive tiger problem - The Jakarta Post - Jakarta Post