Have you ever wanted to live out your Jasmine from Aladdin dreams? Or be the next Tiger King with your own Netflix special? If you live [1] in Alabama, Delaware, North Carolina, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina, West Virginia, or Wisconsin, your dreams about tigers could easily become a reality. OK, it’s not that easy to get your hands on a 600-pound cat, but it’s doable. And in this article, we’re going to show you how it can be done, and for how much. 

Tigers aren’t your average kitty. They’re not domesticated, which means tigers haven’t sustained a multi-generational relationship with humans. This hasn’t stopped thousands of Americans from breeding or owning tigers, though. People love the uniqueness that is brought on by owning a big cat, and when it comes to tigers, the pros seem to outweigh the cons. Known for their stripes and grace, tigers are beautiful, exotic, and alluring.

While tigers are an endangered species, pet tigers are not covered by the 1973 Endangered Species Act as it only applies to animals taken from the wild. Many of the tigers originate from tiger breeders within the United States — in fact, almost twice as many tigers live in captivity in America than live in the wild around the world. [2]

Now, before we dive into the breakdown of the cost of owning a tiger, it’s important to note that these are, at their core, wild beasts, and if you don’t have the training, space, time and money to raise a tiger, perhaps start small, like with a calico cat (there are lots more affordable products for pets like cats). Tigers can be wickedly dangerous and belong in the wild. This article is not to endorse tigers as pets; overall they are not suitable as pets in most situations, and many are suffering as pets even now. There are definitely ethical implications with owning a tiger as a pet. But if you’re just wondering for wondering’s sake how much a tiger costs and how much it costs to keep it alive and happy, you are in the right place. Let’s see if the price is right. And by right we mean wildly expensive.

How Much Does It Cost to Own a Pet Tiger?

Spoiler alert: It’s not going to be cheap.

Cost of a Habitat for a Pet Tiger

You’re probably not going to find a tiger cub for under $7,500. [3] And the expenses only go up from there. Wild male tigers are used to roaming around 40 acres of land, and restricting a tiger to a small area will cause it stress and anxiety, which will make your life harder. It’s not just about the amount of land needed, though. It’s the habitat as a whole. You can’t just stick a tiger in your 40-acre backyard, buy a few products for your yard, and call it a day. You have to cultivate a space for it. Tigers enjoy a wild-looking area with varied terrain to exercise and feel protected and safe. They enjoy grasslands, rocky areas, and rainforests, though that would be highly complicated to build out in your American backyard.

Forty acres of land in a state where you can keep a tiger as a pet could cost you anywhere from $6,000 to $800,000. 

Cost of Food for a Pet Tiger

Typically, tigers eat sambar deer, wild pigs, water buffalo and antelope. You’ll never believe it, but those animals are hard to come by at your local grocery store or butcher shop. In fact, you probably won’t be able to pick up tiger food at all in a grocery store. Cubs are born with claws and baby teeth that are sharp enough to cause injury, and they begin to practice life skills such as stalking and pouncing as early as one month old, when they weigh around 10 pounds. [4] If a mother tiger isn’t available, cubs should be bottle-fed for five to eight weeks on a mixture of milk-replacements and various animal tissues to simulate their natural diet. After that, it’s onto a carnivorous meal plan. Tigers eat up to 88 pounds of meat. Per day. 

Good food and pet vitamins for a mid-size cat will run you $10,000 per year. When you do the math, that’s about $200 per week. You have to be able to defrost it for them every day and 15 pounds (that’s the absolute minimum a big cat eats per day) of bleeding meat in your kitchen every day is a health hazard unto itself. It’s important to feed a tiger all parts of an animal — including brains, hair, and stomach — or appropriate supplements to keep its digestive system in good shape.

Cost of Healthcare for a Pet Tiger

Tigers have very complicated medical needs, so finding a veterinarian specific to your big cat can be tricky. It’s estimated that 98% of large non-domesticated cats held as pets die within the first two years of ownership when not properly cared for. [6] If your cat just gets its annual shots and doesn’t need any emergency care your vet bill will be about $127 to $250 depending on the size of the cat. Tigers have to be vaccinated every year for rabies and all the regular cat diseases. De-worming your big cat every month, if you do it yourself, will cost $145 to $160 and flea prevention costs up to $450 per year per cat depending on size. All in all, healthcare on a good year will run you around $2,600. 

Cost of Training for a Pet Tiger

Experts agree that it’s best to start training your tiger when it’s just a cub. No matter how docile a tiger becomes, you can never train away its predatory responses. Exotic trainers can make anywhere between $20,000 and $60,000 per year. Tiger King’s Joe Exotic paid his employees, including trainers, $150 per week. It’s hard to pinpoint an exact estimate of how much it would cost to train a tiger, but if you’re as stingy as our dear friend Joe, this could be your cheapest expense (coming in at $8,000 a year).

Cost of Transportation for a Pet Tiger

A regular cage for a full-grown tiger can cost up to $20,000 [7], and that’s because the urine is very caustic and will destroy their cage walls in a very short period of time, so you have to get a good one. But when it comes to a transportation cage, you need to start with the vehicle. A hollowed out minivan is a good place to start, but those can run you about $38,000. An RV or motorhome costs even more. A small squeeze cage will cost you $1,250 (used). You will need a forklift to move a tiger and they rent for $500 per day with an operator. 

Cost of Permits and Licenses for a Pet Tiger

Once you’ve figured out where you’re getting your cat and where it’s going to roam, you can’t just buy it. You have to get both state and federal permits. These dues can run you over $200 per year. It’s more than that, though. You’ll probably have to alert your insurance company, but most homeowner’s insurance policies will cancel you if they find out you’re housing an exotic animal. Of course, if your insurance company has kept you on, you’re looking at tacking on an extra $1,000-$15,000 a year for liability insurance. Experts say you can expect to invest almost $25,000 in your first year of owning a tiger. 

Conclusion

All in all, a tiger’s going to run you about $94,000 in the first year. On the whole, rather than buying a pet tiger, it would be far better to donate to help the tigers already in captive rescue situations, such as the Shambala Preserve in California, or other big cat rescues.

Buying Guide

• If the thought of buying meat in bulk appeals to you, and not just for feeding your $100,000 tiger, check out WebstaurantStore, a place where you can buy in bulk.

• If you haven’t gotten your minivan or squeeze cage yet, and still need to speak to a veterinarian, Fuzzy Pet Health offers an online veterinary service so you don’t even have to leave your house. No promises on if the vet you get can aid you in your tiger troubles, but it’s worth a download!

• Don’t let the name fool you — Impact Dog Crates sells a great squeeze cage that specializes in pets with anxiety. And chances are, you’re not the only one filled with anxiety as you transport your tiger to another location.

• If you’re getting a tiger cub, you’ll probably need a nursing kit until it’s big enough to eat meat.

• And of course, if you love the idea of a tiger, but aren’t financially, emotionally, physically, or mentally ready to get your own striped pet, you may want to check out this life-size tiger from Melissa & Doug. It’s 46” by 12” and 18” in height and it’ll totally curb the need for a real tiger. Especially if you don’t have a 40-acre backyard.