In honor of National Tiger Day on Saturday, July 29, Tinder responded to growing from animal welfare organizations, namely PETA, and issued a new release formally asking their users to delete selfies with tigers from their profiles.
Source: Tinder blog
The company also pledged to donate $10,000 toProject Cat,an association which aims to protect tigers.Selfies with the jungle cats have become extremely popular in recent years, with Instagram and Tumblr accounts being set up to document and poke fun at the huge number of Tinder profiles with tigers.However, PETA denounces these seemingly harmless photos, explaining that there is a sad reality behind them:
Behind every photo op or paid ‘encounter’ with an exotic animal is a life of deprivation. No animal chooses to take photos with numerous strangers, day in and day out. In order to force captive animals to perform on cue, trainers often “break their spirits” by beating them into submission.
Source: Tumblr/Tinder guys with tigers
The extremely popular dating applicationexplained their decision on their blog:
Posing next to a king of the jungle doesn’t make you one. It’s time for the tiger selfies to go. More often than not, these photos take advantage of beautiful creatures that have been torn from their natural environment.
Reports estimate that the number of tigers in zoos, roadside attractions and backyards is greater than the number of tigers in their natural habitat by around 2000. These figures demonstrate a larger problem that animals are all too often removed from the wild where they belong to be used for the entertainment of humans.
Source: Instagram/Tinder guys with tigers
Tinder suggested other means for their users to show their love of nature on their profiles without posing with wild animals such as:
Source: Tumblr/Tinder guys with tigers
To support Tinder on their mission to help tigers you can take down any tiger selfies on any social media platform and educate and encourage friends to do the same.If you would like to support Project Cat and help them carry out their amazing work, you can make a donation by clicking here.
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