Tinder has asked for tiger selfies to be removed after complaint for an animal rights charity

Those looking for love online have been asked not to put controversial tiger selfies on their profiles.

Mobile dating app Tinder has urged users not to post pictures of themselves posing with tigers after a campaign by an animal rights charity.

PETA wrote to the company asking it to ban the pictures, due to concerns about the welfare of the animals – which are often taken while people are on holiday to the Far East.

Pictures of the animals have become so popular on the app that separate sites only featuring images of people with the creatures – such as Tigers of Tinder – have been created.

Tinder wrote in a blog post this week: "It's time for the tiger selfies to go. 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.”

The company said it would donate $10,000 to charity Project Car in recognition of International Tiger Day.

Action was taken after a letter from PETA's Australia representative Ashley Fruno called on Tinder’s co-founder Sean Rad to ban the use of tiger selfies on the dating platform.

She said: “Not only are these types of photos cruel to animals, unaware Tinderlings might also mistake them for cute, harmless pictures and be prompted to take part in this abusive industry themselves."

The letter suggested “taking the tiger stripes out of swipes” would be a positive step in ensuring cruelty to animals not be promoted in modern-day dating.