Unfortunately, there are many animal welfare issues for captive big cats globally, especially for lions and tigers. FOUR PAWS tries to evaluate each case and to intervene where possible, while our main focus lays within following key engagements: In several European countries, big cats are still legally and illegally kept as pets by private persons, or used as attraction magnets in circuses and inappropriate zoos, where they can be used for the purpose of shows and even for direct interactions with visitors. Due to legislative grey zones, the commercial trade of captive big cats, especially tigers, is legal and out of control throughout the European Union. Authorities have no precise information about the exact number being kept and traded in the EU, nor do they have any concrete data of their whereabouts and the conditions surrounding their life. This includes not knowing what happens with their bodies and derivatives once dead. In South Africa, it is mainly lions that are kept on breeding farms. Once they reach adulthood, the lions are released into a fenced area where they can be shot by hunters. This ‘canned hunting’ industry guarantees hunters a trophy to take home. The gruesome life cycle of these animals involves being separated from their mothers very early in order to become petting animals for tourists, to being used as walking pets, to finally being shot as adults without any chance of survival as they find no escape.