Animals in Captivity

Clawing at the Cages: Big Cats in Zoos (2024)

This report seeks to explore the significant concerns surrounding big cats in captivity. Beloved and revered the world over, these animals are commonly displayed in zoos and other animal exhibits because of our desire to see them in the flesh, despite the toll this takes on the animals themselves. Examples of our findings include:

• Zoos fail to provide adequate environments for big cats.
• Social and behavioral needs are not met in zoos.
• Inbreeding of big cats has become commonplace due to limited genetic diversity among captive populations.
• Due to the inbreeding of big cats in zoos, as well as their habituation to humans, big cats kept in zoos are generally not candidates for release to the wild.
• Monitoring of data on big cats in captivity is incomplete, with significant numbers of individuals disappearing from studbooks.
• The licensing system intended to implement the Animal Welfare Act in the United States only achieves superficial monitoring of big cats in zoos.
• Despite the introduction the Big Cat Public Safety Act in the U.S. in early 2023, some facilities continue to engage in dangerous activities with big cats, both in violation of, and in compliance with the new law.
• Zoos around the world have killed healthy big cats due to overcrowding and lack of perceived usefulness to breeding programs.

Due to all the issues above, and others, the overall health and welfare of big cats is compromised in zoos. Born Free USA calls upon the zoo industry to take immediate steps to safeguard future generations of big cats by phasing out their presence in the unnatural and harmful zoo environment.

Clawing at the Cages Webinar

On May 14, 2024, Born Free USA hosted a live webinar on big cat captivity, “Clawing at the Cages: Big Cats in Zoos.” Born Free USA Programs Director, Dr. Liz Tyson, hosted the discussion, which featured Devan Schowe, Born Free USA Campaigns Associate, who discussed the findings of Born Free USA’s report on big cat zoo captivity, “Clawing at the Cages”; Kathryn Bertok, Assistant Director of Carolina Tiger Rescue, who spoke about the challenges of rescuing big cats and the welfare issues of having big cats in captivity – even in wildlife sanctuaries; and Kate Dylewsky, Assistant Director of Government Affairs at the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), who discussed the recently passed Big Cat Public Safety Act and the importance of animal protection legislation for safeguarding big cats in captivity.