U.S. urged to regulate 'backyard tigers'

A report from the World Wildlife Fund and TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, estimates that 5000 tigers are held in private ownership in the US, causing some to call for regulation on "backyard tigers" that endanger the public and possibly feed an illegal trade in tiger parts.

Leigh Henry, WWF senior policy officer for Species Conservation , is calling for "a central reporting system and database run by the federal government and that would be required for all tigers in the U.S. without exception," to track where the animals are, who owns them, wen they are bought and sold, when they're born, and when they die to ensure the animals are not used in illegal trade.

Such a system was recently put into place in Iowa, who banned tiger ownership and puts restrictions on existing tiger owners.

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WWF Web Article