July 27, 2020 – After having spent most of their lives performing in the German Manuel Weisheit circus, two tigers have been brought to a species-appropriate home at the FOUR PAWS-owned Animal and Species Protection Centre TIERART in the Southwest of Germany.

Soon after their traveling circus was rendered immobile due to COVID-19 restrictions, 14-year-old Sahib and 13-year-old Jill were being temporarily kept at a horse ranch near Mannheim since early 2020. The owner contacted FOUR PAWS for help with rehoming the Siberian tigers.

He acquired the tigers in 2007 from the German Tierpark Nadermann zoo, where they were born, and began training them for the circus when they were just a year old. Instead of selling the tigers after the circus ended, the owner hoped that FOUR PAWS could give them a proper “retirement”. With just a few weeks of planning, FOUR PAWS was able to transport tigers Sahib and tigress Jill from the horse ranch to their new sanctuary home on Saturday July 25^th.

Luckily, the journey took only about an hour and a half due to the close proximity between the horse ranch and TIERART. The experienced team at TIERART will now provide Sahib and Jill with the care they need to live a happy and healthy life after the circus.

While the tigers have now escaped a life in the spotlight, for many animals this is not the case. FOUR PAWS continues to urge a nationwide ban on the use of wild animals in traveling shows and an EU-wide ban on the commercial tiger trade, which further enables the abuse of big cats for entertainment purposes like circus shows.

Throughout the EU, it is legal to breed and commercially trade captive tigers both within Europe and for export around the world. Even keeping wild animals in circuses or as pets is still allowed in many countries, including Germany. The animals are often kept in poor conditions and made to endure cruel treatment. A recent FOUR PAWS report on tiger trade highlights that European authorities are unaware of the number of tigers kept in their own countries. The same problem exists for captive tigers in the United States as well. 

Circuses constantly move from one location to the next. The cages must be transported and therefore need to take up as little space as possible and be assembled and disassembled quickly. Most circus animals spend the majority of their time in transport wagons and small temporary enclosures that restrict natural behaviors and often leave no room for climbing, running, or bathing – activities that are vital for the wellbeing of any animal, especially tigers.

Moreover, human handling and forced performances of unnatural behaviors are daily routines in the circus environment and these stressors are detrimental for wild animal welfare. The use of wild animals like big cats in circuses also presents a potential danger to public safety and security. Although 23 out of 27 EU Member States have adopted restrictions on the use of wild animals in circuses, Germany, France, Italy, and Lithuania have no restrictions. In the U.S., there are six states and over 150 localities (cities, towns, and counties) that have passed various restrictions or bans on wild animals in circuses.

Across the ocean, in American backyards and “wildlife parks” there remain more tigers in captivity than there are in the wild. This is why FOUR PAWS continues to educate the public on the dangers of big cat exploitation and urges the U.S. government to pass the Big Cat Public Safety Act, which would end public contact with big cats and the private ownership of them as pets, along with supporting a ban on the use of all wild animals in circuses in the country.

Most relevantly, this Wednesday, July 29^th, 2020, is International Tiger Day, and FOUR PAWS hopes to spread the message of support of the U.S. Big Cats and Public Safety Act (H.R. 1380/S.2561). This bill will protect the public and big cats by limiting the private ownership of big cats as pets and bringing an end to the excessive breeding, mismanagement, and inhumane treatment of thousands of tigers, lions, and other big cats in the U.S.