Texas Rescuers Find Moving Bag on Side of Road, Find Animal from Jungle Left for Dead
We see stories all the time of abandoned animals. People who get tired of their pets and have no qualms dumping them like trash are usually at fault.
Even puppies and kittens are often found abandoned, either in boxes with or without food, or tied up in bags and left to die.
When someone stumbles across these creatures before it’s too late and is able to save and rehabilitate the critters in question, it warms our hearts.
While this situation ended well, it started out a little differently.
Border agents working in Brownsville, Texas, spotted three individuals trying to cross over to Texas earlier this week.
Presumably, as the agents approached, the three men fled back over the border. But in their flight, they left something behind: a black duffel bag.
Most people would probably assume it held a few personal belongings or items they wouldn’t want to leave behind.
US Customs and Border Patrol agents undoubtedly see lots of unusual and difficult things in their line of work, but this find was almost bizarre.
Tucked inside the black duffel bag was a sleepy little tiger. He’d likely been sedated for the trip across the border and had been left behind as its handlers ran back.
In the photo, the young tiger can be seen curled up inside the duffel bag. One agent said the cub seemed calm.
The male cub is estimated to be somewhere around two months of age, and seems to be otherwise in good health.
He was taken to the Gladys Porter Zoo, where specialists will be able to care for him properly — no more duffel bags for this little guy!
Exotic pets are difficult to acquire legally, and there are a lot of rules about what kinds of animals you can and cannot have.
It’s safe to say that this tiger was being smuggled in, perhaps to sell off or otherwise bring his handlers a profit, but where he came from is a mystery.
The zoo posted an update on the cub on May 1. “Despite him being brought to us in a critical condition,” they said on Facebook, “our veterinary team acted quickly to stabilize him and he is now doing very well.”
“He is thought to be around 2 months of age. The way he responds to humans leads us to believe that he has been hand-raised up until this point. The next step will be to find him a more permanent home.”
Hopefully, this baby will find a loving home where he will be properly cared for — thankfully, he is in very good hands now!
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