National Geographic News | Tigers in Captivity versus Wild

America's 5,000 Backyard Tigers a Ticking Time Bomb, WWF Says

Posted on October 21, 2010 | 0 Comments

Tags:

• big cats
 
• cats
 
• conservation
 
• endangered species
 
• North America
• tigers
 
• TRAFFIC
 
• wildlife trafficking
 
• WWF

Categories:

• Animals
 
• Cultures
 
• Environment
 
• Wildlife

With more tigers in captivity in the U.S. than survive in the wild, the United States needs a centralized federal database to monitor the big cats, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said this week.

"Weak U.S. regulations could be helping to fuel the multimillion dollar international black market for tiger parts," WWF said in a statement about a new review released by WWF and TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network.

WWF released a new online tool that allows users to learn about their states' captive tiger regulations and how weak oversight puts wild tigers and human safety at risk.

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