A bill restricting the individual ownership of large cats such as lions and tigers in the United States has passed the Senate with unanimous assent.
The Big Cat Public Safety Act would prohibit persons from keeping big cats as pets or exposing them to public petting and photographing.
As a result of the Netflix documentary series Tiger King, efforts to limit individual ownership have risen.
The bill now requires President Joe Biden’s signature to become law.
Mike Quigley, a Democrat who proposed the bill in the House, stated on social media that “many huge cats will have better lives” as a result.
According to estimates from conservationists, as many as 7,000 tigers live in zoos or are privately owned in the United States, nearly double the 3,890 tigers thought to exist in the wild globally.
According to the Animal Welfare Institute, many tigers in the United States are on public display, where the desire for profits in some privately-owned facilities allegedly drives a ” continuous breeding cycle that floods the exotic pet sector with surplus tigers who have outgrown the cub stage.”
In addition, the institute claims that facilities that offer cub petting have been known to kill tigers when they are no longer profitable.
Possession of lions, tigers, leopards, snow leopards, jaguars, cougars, or hybrids of these species will be restricted to wildlife sanctuaries, universities, and accredited zoos under the proposed legislation.
Those on display must be kept at least 15 feet (4.5 meters) from the general public or behind a barrier to prevent contact.
However, present owners of large cats will be permitted to keep their animals so long as they do not allow public contact and register them with the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
The Big Cat Public Safety Act, according to Susan Millward, executive director of the Animal Welfare Institute, “would halt the horrendous exploitation of big cats and enhance public safety.”
She continued, “These beautiful but powerful predators ought to exist in the wild, not in captivity for the amusement of humans, even as cubs.”
Carole Baskin, one of the stars of the Tiger King franchise and the founder of the Big Cat Rescue refuge, has become a supporter of the measure and stated that she is “thrilled” with the result.
