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Are we talking about big cats that people try to keep as pets, or big cats kept in captivity in general?
I think it's sick and wrong for people to try to keep them as pets, and that is the reason for such rescues. It's a little like getting a burm or a retic; cute when they're little, but, in reality, not many people are qualified nor prepared to handle them as adults.
Unfortunately, there isn't as much room for big cats in the wild as there used to be. As has already been said, they need large territories to hunt in, and those territories are fast disappearing. They are also expanding as prey items become scarcer. Well-run facilities that keep tigers do their part in educating people about wild tigers so that we can stop the progression of habitat loss and rebuild wild populations. Formal education programs are a must if we're going to save anything wild that we have, and, frankly, the best way to get through to people, to hit them right in the heart, is to see a tiger up close and personal.
I can go into classrooms and talk about eagles until I'm blue in the face, but how many more kids do you think pay attention when I actually have an eagle with me?
Finally, I wanted to comment that feeding any wild animal 'butcher leftovers' is deplorable. Any facility engaging in this practice needs to be shut down. But there are plenty of good facilities that provide the best life possible for their big cats. Would we feed butcher leftovers to our snakes? Heck no! We buy and feed them whole prey items, as do good facilities for their big cats.
The whole education and ambassador thing is highly controversial. I can accept that. So I challenge anyone who thinks that using live animals in education doesn't get through to people to take one of their large snakes into a classroom sometime and really educate about the plight of the species and it's natural habits - don't talk about pets at all - and see how many kids you get through to.
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