Quintana Roo, the Mexican state on the Yucatan peninsula that banned the use of exotic animals in circuses in 2014, has introduced legislation that would prohibit public contact with big cats. Photo ops, opportunities to bottle feed cubs, and other direct contact encounters are very lucrative for exhibitors and are the genesis of the steady supply of cubs who frequently end up in the exotic pet trade once they age out of photo ops. Bills that prohibit public contact have a significant impact on the exotic pet trade by removing the financial incentive for exhibitors to keep breeding them.
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