PETA Statement: Zookeeper Deaths Won’t Stop as Long as Big Cats Are Kept Captive

For Immediate Release:
April 15, 2016

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

PETA Foundation Deputy Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement Brittany Peet released the following statement in response to today’s death at the Palm Beach Zoo:

Today’s incident is only the latest in a long list of fatal maulings around the world, and that list will continue to grow as long as tigers and other exotic animals are locked in cages and compounds for human amusement. In nature, tigers have home ranges of hundreds of miles, so it’s no wonder that confining them to small spaces causes them to lash out in the frustration, stress, anxiety, and agitation that they suffer when they’re denied their freedom and the ability to behave normally in every way—including choosing their mates, raising their young, and seeking privacy from prying eyes. PETA sends our condolences to the zookeeper’s family and hopes that this incident will save human lives in the future by making zoos everywhere reconsider the confinement of big cats and other wildlife.

PETA’s motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment.”