>>331788I'm generally in favor of leaving wildlife alone. We have cats and dogs, I don't really think there's a need to start domesticating another cat or dog species or something.
However, I can understand zoos and conservation efforts. Also, for various reasons big cats and other wild species end up in captivity, and sometimes they are unwanted. Thus, it's a good thing that there are places that can take them in, and even individuals who keep them as "pets". To this end, I think that if someone is capable of properly and safely taking care of an animal, keeping it as a pet is not necessarily bad. (Consider Fishing Cat, for instance.)
But again, I would rather see them in the wild.