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Keeping big cats in the USA will be reserved for zoos and shelters in the future
Photo:
KAREN BLEIER / AFP
Animal rights activists see it as a milestone: US President Joe Biden has signed a law that prohibits the private keeping of big cats.
In the future, the keeping of tigers, lions, jaguars and other big cats will only be reserved for zoos, shelters, universities or government agencies.
Private zoos of predators like that of »Tiger King«, made famous by a Netflix documentary series, will no longer exist in the USA.
The law also prohibits any direct contact between visitors and the big cats, such as petting young big cats.
Private individuals who currently own carnivores can keep them, but must register the animals with the authorities.
The conservation organization In Defense of Animals welcomes the new law.
This means that in future it will be forbidden to force big cats "into unnatural situations for entertainment purposes," praised spokeswoman Brittany Michelson.
"As a result, the animals are no longer drugged, transported and used as accessories for photographs";
patting big cat cubs will now come to an end.
Until now, paying visitors to private zoos have been allowed to hold young animals, feed them or take photos with them.
"We applaud the Senate and the President for passing this very important animal protection law." It is the success of a decades-long campaign with thousands of supporters.
The Netflix series "Tiger King" about the private zoo operator Joe Exotic had become a surprise hit in the midst of the corona pandemic.
Exotic was sentenced to 22 years in prison in January 2020 for hiring two hit men to target an animal shelter operator with whom he had been at odds for years.
sol/AFP
