Photo by Fabrizio Frigeni on Unsplash
We are entering an unprecedentedly anachronistic era for big cats, wherein those claiming to conserve them have, in reality, turned them into the new “Seaworld”.
Cetaceans rose from television celebrity to captivity in sea parks and dolphinariums. Because of Blackfish, the public now understands that all of it was exploitation. But they don’t view big cats the same way.
The idealism of Born Free created captive breeding farms, cub petting facilities and lion walking from Africa to Mexico, to Myrtle Beach, each facility is simply a tier in the vast scheme of exploitation.
Big cat fans tune into social media and watch Kevin Richardson lounging with his lions, Eduardo Serio having pillow fights with his tigers and Dean Schneider playing with his “rescued” lion cub.
In ten or fifteen years, it will be too late for wild big cats. There will be no natural habitat left for them to inhabit. If the public doesn't stop believing that the only way to protect big cats in the wild is to hold them in captivity and use them as tools peddling mock conservation, captivity will be the only future left for big cats by the time the public realizes their mistake.”
CAPTIVE WILDLIFE WATCHDOG
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