US President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed a law banning private shows with big cats and the petting of tiger cubs, as depicted in the hit series “Tiger King”, AFP reported.

According to the White House, the law is intended to limit “the breeding and ownership of certain big cats.”

These include lions, tigers, leopards and jaguars, which in the future can only be kept in captivity in authorized zoos, reserves or universities.

It will also be forbidden to bring these animals into direct contact with people.

Individuals who already own one or more big cats will have to declare them and will be prohibited from breeding, selling or buying new ones.

This text sounds like a de facto wake-up call for private zoos run by individuals who have supported themselves by, among other things, offering visitors the chance to pose with a tiger or lion cub in their arms.

The practice has been condemned for years by animal welfare groups, who have accused these owners of pushing their animals to breed only to get rid of them when they become less photogenic, less docile and too expensive to keep.

Brittany Michelson of In Defense of Animals welcomed the law: “No more big cats being drugged, moved and used as photo props.”

The law fueled Netflix’s hit series Tiger King, a documentary about an unscrupulous private kennel owner who clashes with an activist who runs a “sanctuary” for the same animals.

The latter, Carol Baskin, hailed the passage of the law, which she has been an active advocate for, on Facebook: “This will rapidly reduce the number of big cats being born to a life of deprivation and captivity.”