There has been a lot written lately about the problems with taking photographs with tigers and other wild animals, but as this article states, these selfies are even more harmful than many people realize. Tigers are taken from their mothers at a very young age, passed around as photo props, and, when they get too large to handle, they are often heavily sedated and cruelly “trained” to render them tame enough to be around humans as adults. Beyond this, many facilities offering close-up tiger experiences claim their work aids in tiger conservation, making people wrongly believe they are helping the animals by giving money to these facilities.
Link: Smithsonian Magazine