@ccaracal-blog1 You can call me Ross! This is a big cat blog, where you'll see photographs and informational posts.
[he/him pronouns]
Hanging out with Sabrina the snow leopard cub
Not cute: having an endangered animal in your home as a pet, especially when it’s one that will grow up to be a very large, strong, aggressive animal.
Especially not cute: handling a young cub with bare hands because their immune systems aren’t developed yet. They get sick easily.
Exotic animals are not pets. Big cats are not pets. Endangered animals really are not pets what the fuck. This is appalling and where the hell did they get that cat.
What the hell… there are as few as 3,500 snow leopards left in the wild. The exotic pet trade is the last thing we need hurting conservation efforts right now.
I’m honestly really shocked and disgusted by this - I know it’s unfortunately very easy to get tiger cubs, lion cubs… but snow leopard cubs? I don’t even wanna know how they got their hands on one. And as was mentioned above, snow leopards grow up to be very large and deadly. This is not an animal that the average person can provide adequate care for, and most “pet” big cats end up living in deplorable conditions due to this.
This is not cute. It sends a terrible message to the public about big cats.
Why exotic cats don’t make good pets
Big Cats Kept as Pets Across U.S., Despite Risk
EDIT: This cub isn’t actually owned as a pet, but instead by a different crappy facility.
No one even knows how many of the big cats are in the United States
ok so you want to rescue a big cat…………………………………..how????/ if you’re not running a rescue you literally can’t lmao you can’t just go up to someone and be like “hey do you still want this tiger or nah bc i don’t really want to feed the industry you did so i’d be happy to take it off your hands!” thats not…how it works lmao now if you were to rescue a small exotic cat, then that’s more plausible. i know ccaracal has plans of rescuing a caracal in the future
Do you mean a large and/or endangered wild cat? If so, forget about it. Literally no matter how many acres you provide, there is no way to responsibly own a big cat such as a tiger unless you plan on starting a sanctuary, like panthxra said.
There are so many differences between privately owning a large wild cat vs a zoo/sanctuary housing one, I don’t even know where to start. Zoos and sanctuaries have professionally trained staff and keepers, volunteers, funding, experienced veterinarians, etc etc. You’re lucky to find a vet that can/will care for a small wild cat, let alone an apex predator like a tiger.
Also, panthxra has a good point. There’d be pretty much no way to get a tiger (or any other large wild cat) without supporting the industry. You can’t just walk into a shelter and adopt one. I can’t tell you the amount of people who try to do the exact same thing you’re describing, but in the end it still is irresponsible - not even to mention that this would cost a huge amount of money that most people cannot afford.
If you were to rescue a small, non-endangered wild cat, then yes, that is more reasonable. Here’s what I have to say on owning a small wild cat. This is also very expensive, time consuming, and requires commitment that at the moment I cannot provide. So I don’t plan on trying to rescue a caracal until many years from now, when I have the financial stability needed to care for one (and of course, that goes for any animal that you plan to get).
Large African Cat Spotted On Vancouver Island
Over the weekend, a couple who live in Sooke on Vancouver Island took a picture of what appeared to be an African serval walking down the road. The picture was then posted to social media, cautioning other residents to stay alert.
Servals are medium-sized African cats with a shoulder height of up to 66 cm (26 inches) and males weighting up to 18 kg (40 lbs). Servals cost about $8,000, and due to their status as exotic animals, the rules of owning these cats are controlled by local governments. These regulations exist to prevent non-native animals from getting out and affecting the local environment.
Another good reason why these cats don’t belong in private hands.
Hoooooly crap NO that is NOT okay. You must not know me or my blog because I am against all big cat private ownership. Of any kind.
That’s 100% wild animal, not a stray dog that you just find and decide to keep. Are there no rehab facilities her area? None? Because when you find injured wildlife you do NOT just scoop it up and take it to a vet. You contact people that can actually treat and re-release it. There are hunters everywhere, and there are regulations to protect wildlife. Is your friend going to take in every deer and quail and mountain lion just because hunting is allowed in the area? That is unethical, dangerous, and irresponsible.
The Serval is me!
#cute cats
As yes, it’s so cute to provoke wild animals that can deliver extreme harm to someone. Especially when said animal has been degraded to a(n overweight) pet in someone’s kitchen.
So I get this question in my askbox occasionally, and I have also seen various people expressing a desire to own a Pallas Cat as a pet (I’m sure to varying degrees of seriousness). However, since it seems to be a fairly common question, I figured I would weigh in on the matter.
First and foremost, it should be clear: Pallas Cats are wild animals. They have always been wild animals, and they are not and cannot be domesticated. Even if you were to get one as a kitten it would still be a wild animal. Wild animals are not meant to be “pets”, period, and even though the Pallas Cat looks small and fluffy and cute, it can be an aggressive and dangerous creature. (bigcatawareness has some pretty good information about this on their blog, here, if you are interested into looking into this further)
Another thing you should know about Pallas Cats in particular is that they have very poor immune systems. They live in an environment where they are not exposed to certain diseases, that they could be exposed to (toxoplasmosis seems to be a common one from what I can tell). If you were to try and keep one as a pet, you would be putting them at great health risk anyways, and that’s not good.
So to answer the question, no, Pallas Cats cannot and should not be kept as pets under any circumstance, nor should any wild cat for that matter, big or small. If you really love and respect Pallas Cats, please be contented to sticking with looking at pictures of their majestic fluff! Or find a zoo that has some, I know there are several zoos where you can go see them!
They aren’t domesticated. At all. They are more docile than most of the cat species, yes. But it still does not justify trying to keep one as a pet. This what if scenario is so unlikely, but yes it is still unethical because it still furthers that idea that we can just keep whatever we want despite the implications. It would still fuel a pet trade, it would still detract from their conservation, and it would still harm the public perception of what wild animals really are.
Everything said above, also, they’re endangered. Spreading the misconception that they can be tamed/domesticated just hurts conservation efforts. I see people petting cheetahs and getting them as pets because they’re more “docile” than other large exotic cats, but they’re still wild and cannot be domesticated. I cringe so hard when people use the excuse that they’re docile lol
This is true, but the number is frequently exaggerated by animal rights organizations, like PeTA and HSUS. They say 5000-10000, or even “10.000+!”
While in fact, according to the Feline Conservation Federation, the number is closer to 2.800. And that includes tigers in zoos and other facilities, not just “pets”. And 10.000 exotic cats in all of the US, that includes bobcats, servals, asian leopard cats and other small cats.
(Also there is a myth that there are thousands of tigers in Texas alone. This is false.)Also, NO WAY the average pet tiger lives a horrible life like that. Just like your average pooch isn’t in the hands of an animal abuser or hoarder, or most zoos aren’t the hellholes the AR-people like to tell you, or most orcas/dolphins don’t live in Sealand of the Pacific-like conditions.
THIS is also a pet tiger:
(Granted, this is in South Africa. But they are “pet” tigers owned privately.)
Here are a couple of “poor, abused” pet big cats in Nevada.And about the numbers - it’s tragic that wild tigers are now reduced to only about 2300 individuals, as it is with all declining species.
But the huge numbers in captivity is something awesome!
Imagine if there were none of these 2800 captive tigers in America, what then? Then there would be 2800 tigers less in the world, that might help their species in the future (as it is likely to go extinct in the wild in the next decade or so). Only scattered in zoos across the world.All animal species we keep will unfortunately be abused by heartless people that shouldn’t own any animals. Dogs, cats, hamsters, rabbits, horses, parrots, lizards, livestock, as well as exotics (though parrots and reptiles are technically exotics too…), they all end up in unsuitable homes from time to time. Just as some zoos are bad, other are good.
We have laws in place to keep check of the welfare both zoos and owners, and punish/shut down the ones that won’t follow these laws.
(It’s either that, or the goal of PeTA and HSUS - all animals out of captivity and all human contact with animals ending permanently, something I think most of us don’t want.)Don’t spread the lie that every exotic or wild animal “pet” is being abused in someone’s basement. Or that we have thousands of hungry, abused tigers that are just waiting to be unleashed onto an unsuspecting public and start eating civilians. Because it’s just not true.
Except none of the tigers in private hands will ever contribute anything to conservation. Pet breeders don’t care about the purity of different subspecies and so most of them are mixed (primarily a mix of Bengal and Siberian). This crossing of subspecies directly harms conservation. Tigers bred as pets are also often heavily inbred, especially when it comes to producing the more popular color morphs. Since their breeding goes directly against the standards set out by the AZA those tigers will never be suitable for conservation programs. So it would make zero difference if those tigers existed or not (if anything their existence damages conservation efforts.)
Not to mention, those photos you posted all show highly unethical and problematic content. None of those animals are being properly cared for. For a start, no one should ever have direct one-on-one contact with adult big cats. Ever. It is not only extremely dangerous but it gives the false impression that big cats are safe to be around. And what happens when the tiger injures someone, even just through play? It gets euthanized as a dangerous animal. It’s not fair that the animal should have to pay the price for human stupidity. Tigers, lions and other big cats are also frequently defanged and declawed to make them safer to be around, both horrifically cruel practices.
Secondly, pet tigers should never be in a house or around pets like dogs. It is asking for trouble and is in no way a suitable environment for these animals. Very, very few people can give these animals the appropriate environment that they need.
bigcatawareness can probably give more insight into some of these photos and why they’re so problematic?
^^^^ This covers a lot of what I would have said.
OP’s comments are grossly misinformed. Congrats on posting a bunch of pictures of big cats being treated like housecats. It is unethical, irresponsible, and yes, cruel. No private owner can give the necessary care to a big cat. They can give the necessary diet, they can’t give the necessary space, and many don’t give the necessary vet care because it is too expensive or they simply can’t find a qualified exotic vet. Private owners hugely susceptible to things life can throw at them(bankruptcy, foreclosure, family strife, health declines, etc), and rehoming a tiger isn’t as easy as rehoming a housecat. Sanctuaries are overwhelmed with pleas for people to take the animals they can no longer afford to care for because they are not an accredited zoological facility that actually has the funds to care for an animal that can cost up to 15k a year to feed alone. By owning a big cat, you are unnecessarily deciding to risk the lives of the cat you own, as well as that of everyone around you. If you cat gets out? Dead. If your cat attacks you? Dead. it is not your risk alone. And it is unethical to decide that you have the right to risk any life but your own.
There is absolutely no good achieved by keeping a big cat as a pet. It doesn’t benefit the animal, and it doesn’t benefit conservation. In fact, it harms conservation. People see the above pictures and think “I can keep them safe in my house because the wild is scary!” They think if you bottle raise it, it wont kill you. They think they can turn a lion into a housecat.
By the way, that picture of the lion is from a pro-ownership group called Rexano that breeds white tigers, declaws, and keeps big cats in their homes. Congrats on helping me further my point by sharing a picture of a really cruel owner. Have you seen how much a declawed big cat suffers? I have. Unbearable arthritis, diminished use of their paws, deformities, the list goes on. It’s the worst thing you can do to a big cat short of ripping their teeth out.
The pictures of the tigers with the guy in South Africa show a situation where big cats are allowed to not only share a home with two people, but several small dogs whose lives are put at risk every day. The tigers’ “enclosure” consists of astroturf on concrete. You know how detrimental it is for a big cat to live on concrete rather than natural substrates? They get elbow swellings and callouses, painful joints, etc.
Someone doesn’t have to be with PETA to think that owning a tiger as a pet is a really bad thing. Saying that everyone who cares about these animal’s welfare HAS to be some PETA extremist is so petty I can’t even deal. So get that dismissive, pro-abuse attitude out of here
Actually no. Not only is this the biggest IF in the world(some average Joe is not going to be able to give a big cat what it truly needs, they just aren’t), but by keeping these cats as pets the owners put so many lives at danger; mostly those who didn’t sign up for it at all. They endanger their neighbors, they endanger the cat(guess who else dies if the tiger kills someone?). Not only this, it furthers the breeding of conservationally useless generic tigers with many health defects, AND it feeds into the industry that’s going to treat the animals a hell of a lot worse than this fictional person who can somehow give them what they need. No matter how you slice it, it’s still dangerous and irresponsible.
