Anyone who’s ever been on Tinder will know the “tiger selfie.” It’s unavoidable. And it’s definitely up there with the “naked torso” for reasons to swipe left. 

But now Tinder is taking action to get daters to ditch this off-putting picture once and for all.

“It’s time for the tiger selfies to go,” the company wrote in a blog post this week.

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“More often than not, these photos take advantage of beautiful creatures that have been torn from their natural environment. Wild animals deserve to live in the wild.”

It comes thanks to pressure from animal welfare charity PETA, which wants to address the way people interact with wild animals in environments like zoos and wildlife parks. 

The problem of this “socially acceptable” animal cruelty on dating apps like Tinder, Bumble and Happn is widespread and as old as the apps themselves, with one Wall Street Journal reportfrom 2014 citing Tinder users who estimated tigers appear in 10% of men’s profiles.

In fact, Tumblr pages and blog sites like “Tinder Guys with Tigers” and “Tigers of Tinder” have sprung up solely to name and shame those who partake in the bizarre trend.

But then, PETA’s associate director of campaigns Ashley Fruno wrote a letter to Tinder’s co-founder Sean Rad appealing for the dating app to join the conversation. 

“What might, at first swipe, look like a harmless picture actually means that someone was caged, dominated and tied down or drugged before their photo was taken and uploaded online,” Fruno wrote to Rad. 

READ MORE: Scotland to Become First in UK to Ban Wild Animals From Circus Acts

“Unfortunately, this is the reality for tigers, lions and other big cats who are featured in an alarming number of Tinder profile photos. Not only are these types of photos cruel to animals, unaware Tinderlings might also mistake them for cute, harmless pictures and be promoted to take part in this abusive industry themselves,” Fruno wrote.

She added: “Now is the perfect time to help protect pussies by banning the most selfish selfie of all. By taking the tiger stripes out of swipes, you’ll be sending a message to the Tinder community that in modern-day matchmaking, cruelty to animals should never be on offer.” 

Tinder have even given a list of top five things to replace those tiger selfies with if “you’re concerned about having one less photo on your profile.”

Planting a tree
Walking to work like the eco-friendly person you are
Volunteering at an animal shelter
Conserving water by drinking rose
Enjoying a summer sesame falafel bowl at your favourite vegan eatery

And they’ve made a promise to all their users that their profiles will be “just as fierce without the drugged animal.” 

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