Thousands of tigers and lions are kept in private facilities across the US — a situation causing significant welfare harm that the Big Cat Public Safety Act of 2022 began addressing.
The scale of big cat private ownership in the US represents one of the most significant wildlife welfare failures in modern history. Animals requiring ranges of hundreds of square kilometers spend their lives in small concrete enclosures; animals that evolved complex social structures are isolated or kept in incompatible groupings; and the cub petting industry requires continuous breeding and early maternal separation to supply tourist experiences. The Big Cat Public Safety Act of 2022 was a meaningful step, but implementation and enforcement will determine whether it translates into genuine welfare improvement. Accredited sanctuaries attempting to absorb displaced big cats from the private sector are overwhelmed — the fundamental solution is ending private breeding and ownership.