International Tiger Day

International Tiger Day is a reminder of our responsibility to help protect and conserve these iconic, apex predators, the ecosystems they depend on, and which depends upon them. It’s also a reminder of our responsibility to the majority of the world’s tigers which sadly, are not wild. Most of the world’s captive tigers don’t even live in reputable zoos and sanctuaries, they are in private hands; from roadside zoos to commercial breeding “farms”, backyard cages, pseudo-sanctuaries or “scamtuaries”, even nightclubs and casinos! Fortunately, long overdue legislation such as the Big Cat Public Safety Act in the US is finally putting in place measures to curb the keeping of tigers and other big cats in private hands – but that also means additional pressure on reputable sanctuaries.

Tigers are a classic "double jeopardy species" – their wide-ranging lifestyle increases both their risks of extinction in the wild, but also makes them more prone to welfare challenges in captivity which is why Care for the Rare considers them a priority species for our work. We have been working with Four Paws to help support the well-being of tigers across their extensive sanctuary network – and our goals are ambitious; we want to increase their capacity for rescued tigers in response to global shifts in legislation which will likely see growing numbers of tigers needing to be rehomed, and we want to uplift standards of care both within the Four Paws network, but also further afield by establishing new, ambitious standards of care.

The basis of our approach is informed by our welfare priority framework, and centres around providing rescued tigers with opportunities to undertake meaningful journeys, functionally comparable to those undertaken in the wild in terms of distance and impact; allowing them to gather information, learn, navigate, connect complex decisions to meaningful, motivated outcomes, and ultimately to help ensure tigers in human care can experience as much of the functional complexity of the wild as possible in large, dynamic, interactive landscapes.

If on International Tiger day you want to make a difference for tigers by making a donation, remember they need compassion as much as they need conservation so consider supporting both conservation NGO’s and reputable rescue organisations caring for tigers like Four Paws.

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