Steve Winter: Revealing the dark side of America's private zoos

There are more tigers in captivity in the United States than there are in the wild in Asia, thanks to Americans' growing appetites for posing for photos with big cats and their cubs. National Geographic photographer Steve Winter has previously photographed wild cats in places like Myanmar and Peru, but for his latest project he spent two years tracking the fates of those in private roadside zoos across the US, documenting their confinement, maltreatment and exploitation. 

The images in this gallery are used with permission and are subject to copyright conditions.