The horrible truth behind Lewis Hamilton's seemingly cute Snapchat of tigers can't be ignored

Whether someone’s sitting on an elephant or cuddling a tiger, chances are it’s funding an illegal poaching or breeding trade. Even if not, the animals are often kept in terrible conditions and lead miserable lives

Lewis Hamilton has come under fire after posing on Snapchat with tigers (Getty)

Did you miss Lewis Hamilton’s latest snapchats? Me too – let me fill you in. A few days ago, the Formula One racing driver visited the Black Jaguar White Tiger foundation in Mexico, and the results are plastered all over his social media accounts.

In one picture Hamilton clings onto a jaguar like a child who’s just won a massive prize at the fair. In a close-up his hands are placed on a tiger’s cheeks (do tigers have cheeks?) and their faces pressed together. Then, lying on his back he poses next to the tiger, his finger in the animal’s mouth.

A lot of internet-people were very much impressed. The pictures were labelled “epic”, and Hamilton’s attitude of “yeah my hand’s in a tiger’s mouth, big deal” was much applauded. Everyone involved seemed to have forgotten the fact that tigers aren’t big cuddly toys – they’re incredibly dangerous wild animals.

Animal rights organisation Peta had their say, criticising Hamilton’s actions as “foolish”. They’re completely right– anyone who’s seen a David Attenborough documentary (that being 100 per cent of the population) is well aware that a tiger can chew your leg off. However, the conversation so far has focused on Hamilton. We’ve been forgetting something.

The “exotic” animals which pop up in your news feed aren’t props to liven up holiday pictures. Whether someone’s sitting on an elephant, splashing about with a dolphin or cuddling a tiger, chances are it’s funding an illegal poaching or breeding trade. Even if not, the animals used to tick something off your bucket list are often kept in terrible conditions and lead miserable lives.

The foundation which Hamilton visited claims to “rescue” tigers and jaguars from circuses, breeding facilities and petting zoos. However in reality they’re just swapping one form of exploitation for another. How is the constant pawing they have to endure from invited members of the public and celebrities different from life in a petting zoo? The conditions are also questionable – there are claims that the centre has overcrowding issues due to animals not being spayed or neutered.

The foundation states that they exist to provide these animals with “the best food and medical care available, and a life of dignity and love for the rest of their lives”. They obviously have a pretty strange idea of dignity, as the tigers and jaguars are handled by a stream of strangers and included as a novelty in hundreds of selfies.

If the centre was a legitimate rescue operation, they wouldn’t allow tourists to enter the animals’ enclosures – the policy would be “safety first”. Black Jaguar White Tiger claim to use celebrities and social media to raise awareness of animal welfare, but these images only further promote the idea that animals are ours to use as we see fit.

There are two possible situations whereby the sanctuary owners would feel that it is safe to allow humans into close contact with the animals. One scenario is that they believe the animals are so used to human company that there is no risk of them attacking, in which case they are being treated as huge pets. This would make it impossible for them to ever be released back into the wild.

The other option is perhaps worse. In the exotic animal selfie industry, animals are very often drugged to keep them placid. It seems very unlikely that the foundation would feel comfortable with sending Lewis Hamilton in to play-wrestle with grown big cats unless they were drugged. Surely that knowledge would take the edge off your holiday memory?

My twitter profile picture currently shows me at an animal sanctuary scratching a cow’s head, so I’m clearly not against interacting with animals if they’re safe and well cared for, and able to wander off and munch some grass if they like. It’s the attitude towards the animal that is the issue. Hamilton’s desire to raise awareness of animal rights is laudable – but unless it’s done right he risks contributing to their exploitation.

Elena Orde is the Editor of The Vegan magazine