Wild tigers face welfare threats from habitat fragmentation forcing dangerous territory expansion, human-wildlife conflict leading to retaliatory killing, and the illegal trade in tiger parts that drives poaching.
Wild tigers killed in retaliation for livestock depredation or human conflict die from poisoning or trapping - often slow, agonizing deaths. Tigers that survive snare capture suffer severe leg injuries. Territorial tigers forced into marginal habitat by human encroachment experience food stress and increased dangerous human contact. In the captive trade, the thousands of tigers in roadside zoos and private ownership in the US often live in grossly inadequate conditions - small cages, inappropriate diet, social isolation, and handling stress for tourist photo opportunities. These privately held tigers serve no conservation purpose while experiencing significant welfare deprivation throughout lives that can span 20+ years.