The Oakland Zoo rescued four tigers from a Texas Zoo that was giving them away after the tigers had been rescued from a "roadside freak show." Apparently the four female tigers were on display where people could pay $20 to take their picture with the animals. The animals were rescued after authorities were called when one of the owners of the sideshow announced that he planned on shooting the tigers because they were costing him too much money. The tigers were then taken to a zoo in Texas where they were supposed to stay, but then more and more tigers were being delivered to the zoo after being rescued from similar circumstances that the zoo no longer had any room. The Oakland Zoo was willing to take the tigers because they felt that it was such a critical issue.
The Oakland Zoo hopes that the tigers entertain guests and also help educate the public about tiger mills. According to this article "more than 8,000 tigers live in the U.S., far more than live in the wild
globally. Of the 8,000, only a few hundred live in accredited zoos. The
rest live in backyard." Most of these tigers are owned by people who originally bought tigers because they are so cute as cubs but then want to get ride of them once they mature and are eating pounds and pounds of raw meat a day.
I find it ridiculous that people would keep tiger's in their backyard because they grow to such a huge size and are wild animals. However, I find it nice to know that zoo's rescues these animals when they can and that the Oakland Zoo is made up of mostly rescued animals.
Glad you wrote about this article... :) Personally I think zoos are messed up. But I was glad to learn the other day that the Oakland Zoo does all this rescuing.
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