This may come as a surprise to anyone who doesn’t actively use dating apps, but there are so many users who have uploaded profile images of themselves posing with tigers on Tinder that PETA is actively trying to get users to delete them.
Seriously, tiger selfies are so prevalent on Tinder that there are entire blogs dedicated to collecting as many of them as possible, including Tigers of Tinder and TinderGuysWithTigers. PETA released an open letter to tiger selfie takers with concerns that the tigers used for tourist photos are often heavily drugged so they don’t maul the paying customers’ faces off. According to PETA:
Baby tigers and other animals used at photo attractions are typically torn away from their distraught mothers when they’re just days old and then subjected to extreme stress and physical abuse. Once they’ve grown larger and are too dangerous to handle, they end up being locked away in cages or heavily sedated.
Apparently Tinder agrees with PETA, posting a message on their blog that shows support for “International Tiger Day.” They’ve also made a $10,000 donation to Project Cat and the company is appealing to users to remove their tiger selfies from their profiles. (Note that tiger selfies are not officially banned from Tinder, just frowned upon.) Tinder went on to suggest that users upload photos of any of the following activities to replace a deleted tiger selfie:
Planting a tree
Walking to work like the eco-friendly person you are
Volunteering at an animal shelter
Conserving water by drinking rosé
Enjoying a summer sesame falafel bowl at your favorite vegan eatery”
I’ve clicked through several “pictures of people posing with animals on Tinder” blogs so you don’t have to, and there really are plenty of Tinder users who post selfies with tigers, elephants, apes, sharks, and other wild animals. But will the combined efforts of Tinder and PETA curb the appeal of uploading a cool photo of someone hanging out with a dangerous animal?
Probably not.
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