Europe's Tiger Kings

Netflix's controversial and wildly popular Tiger King documentary returns to our screens for a second season today. The original, first available in March 2020, raised awareness about the scale of the big cat trade, particularly breeding and the exploitation of animals for attention and profit. While there are an estimated 3,900 tigers living in the wild today, it is thought that 7,000 are in captivity in the United States, along with a further 1,600 in Europe. A new report by Four Paws international has now shed light on the scale of situation across the EU where its legal to breed, keep and trade tigers in many member states.

The report tallied the number of tigers being kept in captivity in European countries in zoos, sanctuaries, circuses and private keeping through the use of 2018 CITES data (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). The Czech Republic had the most tigers in captivity, 180, followed by Germany's 164. More than 100 animals were also documented in the United Kingdom, Slovakia and France.