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National Wildlife Federation’s (NWF) website claims their mission is “to unite Americans to ensure wildlife thrive” and “save wildlife that are suffering declines across America, with a goal of increasing America’s wildlife populations.”
That all sounds great. But if it’s true, why in the world is NWF spokesperson David Mizejewski renting and then carting baby tigers and African servals to television shows like The Ellen DeGeneres Show and the Today Show to be used as props? And even bringing a large cougar to NWF’s own annual meeting!? Tigers and servals are not even native to America – and no exotic cats should ever be exploited as entertainment.
Big Cat Rescue reached out to NWF’s top management and Mizejewski about our concerns that their tactic of exploiting cute baby wildlife as television props completely undermines their message of respecting wildlife. We explained that, if they’re serious about teaching the public to respect wildlife and not keep exotic cats as pets, they need to lead by example. Their actions are contradicting their words. Sadly, nobody from NWF bothered to respond to our emails.
There’s more than a bit of irony in a blog post Mizejewski wrote about well-meaning Yellowstone tourists who accidentally killed a baby bison by trying to help it: “As a wildlife conservation professional, when I see stories like this, my first reaction is to think, why would anyone think it’s ok to pick up a wild animal? Helping wildlife doesn’t mean treating them like our pets or children.”
Yet on a recent episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Mizejewski carried an African Serval kitten on stage in his arms. And he brought a screaming 6-week-old tiger cub onto the Today Show and let the hosts pet the baby. He also bottle fed a newborn Asian Leopard Cat on the Conan O’Brien show, and in another Conan appearance brought an African Serval on a leash and gave it a cat toy to play with, while stating verbally that “These are wild animals. They should never be pets.” After repeatedly treating wild cats as pets in front of national television audiences, NWF and Mizejewski wonder why the public thinks it’s okay to interact with wildlife?
Please help us educate NWF that big cats should not be used as entertainment or television props! Your email will demonstrate that MANY people love big cats and want to see captive big cats treated humanely, not rented from disreputable facilities and then paraded onto television shows. Please speak up for these exotic cats by sending our Alert! Thank YOU!
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