Big Cat Pet Trade

Having a tiger or a lion as a pet sounds crazy, but many people actually illegally buy big cats as pets. At least 10,000 tigers are being kept as pets (not including zoo animals) in the US. Although out of the ordinary, many people are led to believe that baby tigers, lions, and cheetahs look adorable. After even just a few months, these big cats become dangerous animals, meant to live in the wild. Even if the cat is kept in captivity for its whole life, they maintain all natural killer instincts, and can become even more aggressive when kept in the wrong environment. There have been many tragic incidents, involving big cats kept as pets. Nearly 21 humans have died from attacks, 246 maulings have been reported, and 143 wild cats have died in/ from captivity. Many diseases can be transmitted from these large cats. Big cats being kept as pets are both dangerous for humans, and the cats themselves, and must continued to be prevented.