US pet tiger population outnumbers rest of world's wild tiger population

Activists are not happy about America's tiger population. Recent statistics show that more tigers are kept as pets in America than roam free in the wild.

While only 3,000 tigers inhabit forests in Russia and Asia, the U.S. has as many as an estimated 5,000 tigers kept captive in small cages.

Carole Baskin, the founder and CEO of Big Cat Rescue told CNN:

%shareLinks-quote="The main reason for all of these cats in backyards and basements and garages across America is that it's legal for people to have their picture taken with a cute little tiger cub or lion cub." type="quote" author="Carole Baskin" authordesc="Founder and CEO of Big Cat Rescue" isquoteoftheday="false%

Meanwhile, history shows that those cubs are only manageable until they're about 12 weeks old. Baskin says, "By the time they're 13 weeks old, the people who are using them for these photo booths find that it costs $10,000 a year to take care of them, so they give them away. They sell them."

In an effort to change this pattern, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) is partnering with other animal protection organizations like Big Cat Rescue with a common goal to ask congress to pass The Big Cats and Public Safety Protection Act. The act would end private possession and breeding of various big cats.

See the video below about a woman in Florida who keeps tigers as pets:

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