White Tigers

 Privately owned pet tigers and other big cats (lions, cougars, mountain lions, and leopards) are an obscure reality, yet their true presence is wildly exaggerated by special interest groups and the news media. While many exotic pets have tremendous popularity, big cats, for obvious reasons, are not commonly kept. Due to the negligence of a few, the few true owners of ‘pet’ big cats frequently make headlines and bans are prompted of other exotic animals that are of little or no danger to people beyond a cat or dog. The reason may be that the public views the idea of a ‘backyard tiger’, which is a tiger maintained in a non-professional zoo-like setting, with disdain, but not all so-called backyards (or owners) are equivalent. There are reasonable ways to bring about the proper husbandry of big cats, as long as the owner’s lifestyle fits specific criteria without exception.