A House panel and competing witnesses Wednesday revived a debate over a big cat protection law that was partly propelled through Congress by the 2020 Netflix series called “Tiger King.”
Signed into law by then-President Joe Biden in December 2022, the law imposed new restrictions on the possessing, breeding and displaying of big cats such as lions, tigers and cheetahs. Some of those animal-protection provisions would be loosened under a bill authored by Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.).
Dubbed the “Protecting Local Zoos Act,” Gosar’s H.R. 7159, would exclude snow and clouded leopards from the 2022 law’s coverage and allow trained volunteers and zoo facility owners to be in contact with the big cats, among other provisions.
“The [bill] provides common sense and consistent application of the law to ensure big cat conservation can continue without regulatory uncertainty,” Gosar told members of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries.
