More than 8,000 tigers live in captivity in China, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam, where they are kept and bred for commercial uses, including for selfies with tourists and illegal trade in their bones, skins, and other parts. Tiger bones may be turned into medicinal paste or brewed into a wine believed to make the drinker stronger and more virile, while skins and teeth are used in decor and jewelry.

Captive tiger facilities have been documented speed breeding females, holding cats in inadequate enclosures, drugging them to make them safer for tourist interactions, and feeding them poor diets that lead to either emaciation or obesity. Connections to criminal enterprises have