The Hidden Tiger
Extinction.
Faced with ever shrinking habitat, rampant poaching, and the distinctly human desire to possess creatures of such mythical beauty, wild tiger numbers have dwindled by 95% within this past century.
Film and television has made it easy for us all to fall in love with the majestic tiger, but their full story has remained hidden.
This investigative documentary shows the other side: black markets trading in tiger parts, criminal abusers using tigers for extraordinary profit, cubs being ripped from their mothers for a short life of tourist photo ops, slaughtered tigers piled by the dozens, and the horrific truth that the United States plays a role in the threatened extinction of the beloved tiger.
The Hidden Tiger is about your neighbor’s backyard tiger and the role that the US plays in the acceleration of its extinction.
Traveling across the globe, Rescue Docs Films has uncovered alarming realities:
- In the US, there are an estimated 5,000 – 10,000 tigers held at roadside attractions and by private owners, yet fewer than 5,500 tigers remain in the wild
- Tigers can be purchased in many US states legally for less than $500
- The nearly $8 billion trade in wildlife parts is the third most profitable on the black market after the drug and weapons trade
- US captive tigers are being sold on the black market and at least 10 million Americans believe in the medicinal use of tiger body parts
- Tigers are being exploited for entertainment in circuses and in the mainstream media
- First responders that are at risk and not trained to handle attacks, escapes and abuses involving tigers
- Sanctuaries having to care for and fund abused tigers due to weak regulations
Rescue Doc Films has also looked at promising solutions with the current conservation efforts being made in Asia and the push to enact responsible federal legislation in America. We have the exclusive footage of the retirement of the Ringling Bros. tigers in the US, freed from a life of exploitation. With work in India, Nepal, the UK and across the United States, Rescue Doc Films has worked to connect all of the major experts and players in the world of tigers to give tigers a voice.
Check out our official website and trailer below!