After watching Netflix’s Tiger King, I found myself incredibly frustrated with what it left unsaid about about captive tigers and the exotic animal industry. For many in the public, this was their first insight into the industry—this is a grave disservice.
In response, I put together informational illustrations on what I identify as the three primary lies peddled: white tigers as endangered, cub welfare, and support of conservation.
People pay money to see and interact with these animals because they like animals, generally speaking. For many, simply being informed of these truths would end that. For the rest, I hope social pressure could do the trick—after all, why pay money for that cub photo if you can’t share it online? I look to recent examples like Seaworld and the use of circus elephants; it seems that we are in a moment when people are willing to change entertainment consumption habits in response to animal welfare.
I turned my illustrations into the basis of a themed “tiger week” in collaboration with Creature Conserve. A pilot social media campaign aimed at education and encouraging artists to make science-informed art. This became the basis for the long-running theme week campaigns by CC.
