"One of the most shocking scenes in the film for me was the discovery in 2003 of a full grown tiger being kept as a pet in a fifth floor apartment building in New York City."

Film Review

Title: American Tiger

Director: Francis Delfour and Sébastien Tétrault

Narrator: David Suzuki

Studio: Peripheria Productions

Premiere: The Nature of Things, CBC, Feb 2 2012

Reviewed By Tessa Perkins

Did you know that there are more tigers in captivity in the United States than there are in the wild? The shocking truth about the remaining tigers of the world and their American cousins is revealed in this informative new documentary. These iconic cats are being decimated in the wild, meanwhile they are being bred and sold as pets in the U.S.

The regulations on owning a tiger vary from state to state, and there are people, such as actress Tippi Hedron, who advocate a complete ban on ownership and breeding to ensure that the tigers are not mistreated, that they remain completely wild, and that their gene pool remains pure with distinct sub-species.

A few private tiger owners are interviewed in the film, and they share their side of the debate as they claim that it is better to have “American Tigers,” even if they lose their essential tiger qualities, rather than no tigers at all. In their view, they are ensuring the survival of the species by breeding them and keeping them captive. On the other side of the debate are scientists who say that these captive tigers are essentially “junk tigers” in that their genetic make up is not a pure sub-species, and they have lost things like the ability to hunt. American tigers also tend to be more overweight compared to their wild counterparts, and also more lethargic as they are not required to obtain their own dinner.

One of the most shocking scenes in the film for me was the discovery in 2003 of a full grown tiger being kept as a pet in a fifth floor apartment building in New York City. These are the types of cases, along with fatal attacks from pet tigers, that the advocates of a ban are hoping to avoid. They also show a tiger conservation centre where most of the tigers have been brought there after being abandoned by owners who thought things like “I didn’t think he’d get that big,” or “I didn’t know they ate that much.” They also interviewed a celebrity veterinarian who had some interesting stories to tell about tigers being treated as pets and even riding shotgun in a convertible.

Tigers have been on the endangered list since its inception, and since 1990 their numbers have gone from 10,000 to 3,000. This is the very sad truth, but there is still some hope as some effort is being made to breed them in captivity and slowly release them back into the wild. It is interesting that since 1973, it has been illegal to import wild born tigers to the U.S., so all the tigers there now are true American Tigers. After so many tragedies and with the poor treatment and inbreeding of so many animals, I hope that something can be done to stop the American Tiger being seen as a luxury pet, and to increase wild tiger numbers. With David Suzuki’s poignant narration, and great interviews with people involved in the lives of American Tigers, I thought this documentary was very well done.         

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