National Geographic - USA (2019-12)

Jungle Exotics

3 in, 2 out

Hollywood Animals

Tiger

Preservation

Center

Barry R. Kirshner

Wildlife Sanctuary

Big Cat Encounters Ranch

Forever Wild Exotic

Animal Sanctuary

Dirk Arthur Wild Magic

West Coast

Game Park

Wild Things Inc.

6 out, 1 in

12 in, 3 out

4

3

3

22

15

5

2

7

6

HAWAII

UTAH

OREGON

ARIZONA

WASHINGTON

CALIF.

ALASKA

HAWAIIHAWAIIHAWAII

UTAHUTAHUTAH

OREGONOREGONOREGON

ARIZONAARIZONAARIZONA

WASHINGTONWASHINGTONWASHINGTON

CALIF.CALIF.CALIF.

ALASKAALASKAALASKA

IDAHO

NEVADANEVADA

No law (4 states)

Permit required (10 states)

Ban (36 states and D.C.)

1

2–7

8 or more

Transferred into location

Transferred out from location

Both in and out

Number shows total tigers transferred

Trade networks Tiger transfers

Number of transactions

State laws on keeping big cats as pets

Greater Wynnewood

ASIA

1

1

1

Range of Range of Panthera tigris Panthera tigris

Serenity Springs

ALASKA AND HAWNOT TO SCALE AII

A peek into the

U.S. tiger trade

Tracking two networks

Tourism drives tiger breeding in the U.S., where

many roadside zoos and other businesses charge

guests to pet and pose with cubs. Some exhibitors

and breeders make thousands of dollars a day from

cubs that are sometimes as young as four weeks.

This map illustrates transfer records obtained from
state wildlife agencies and watchdog organizations
monitoring two of the largest facilities in the industry
and their transactions with 48 other businesses.
Records of all tiger trades are not available.

The Big Cat Public Safety Act, currently before Congress,
would ban commercial breeding, public handling, and
ownership of big cats as pets across the U.S.

Tigers, native to Asia, were first brought to the U.S.
in the early 1800s. Today the Endangered Species
Act outlaws imports of tigers or tiger parts for com-
mercial use. In China and Southeast Asia, tigers are
farmed for meat, skin, and bones used in expensive
tiger-bone wine and in traditional medicines.

RILEY D. CHAMPINE, TAYLOR MAGGIACOMO, NGM STAFF; SCOTT ELDER

ANIMBEFORE 2016, GREATER WAL PARK OR GAROLD WYNNEWAYNE EXOTIC ANIMOOD WAS CALLED EITHER G.WAL MEMORIAL PARK.. EXOTIC

Records from 2010 to
2018 show this business
shipped out 168 tigers
and received 28.

Despite state bans, it’s still possible for

breeders and exhibitors to obtain a license

from the USDA to transfer and keep big cats.

Records from 1996 to 2016
show this business (now
closed) received 147 tigers
and shipped out seven.

Proposed law for big cats

Illegal to import
6 ft