A New York City man kept a tiger named Ming in his apartment until it attacked him in 2003 he told doctors that his pit bull bit him, but police eventually discovered the tiger when neighbors complained. In the Chicago suburb of Lockport in 2014, police arrested a man walking to a bar with a tiger cub on a six-foot leash.
Tiger has gone home from series#
In 2009 when a friend agreed to help the owner at feeding time, one of the animals shredded his arm.Īuthorities arrived at the surreal scene and set in motion a series of events that are becoming more commonplace: a hurriedly placed call to a rescue organization a pitiful, dangerous collection process a new and daunting quest for proper shelter. “Injuries are inevitable,” adds Reeves, “when you put inexperienced people into direct contact with wild, big cats.”Ī Kansas man, for example, kept tigers and lions in his junkyard, housed in rickety cages. “There’s no way of knowing the true extent of the problem, since no single agency tracks who keeps tigers,” says Debbie Leahy, manager of captive wildlife protection for the Humane Society of the United States. Seven states have no laws at all on owning wild animals. Only about 400 are in accredited zoos, with the rest in roadside attractions, private menageries, or kept by backyard breeders. In the U.S., however, the estimated number of tigers kept in private captivity hovers around 7,000. According to the World Wildlife Fund, around 3,890 tigers are left in the wild-a drop of 97 percent over the last hundred years-living in 13 countries including India, Indonesia, and China. Stories like Waldo’s, although they sound rare, are becoming less so. “A starving tiger is terrible to see,” says Reeves. Even with an injured shoulder, he relentlessly paced, like an -agitated colonel. Scattered behind him were a metal beer keg, two empty bowls, and some blowing trash. The decrepit conditions in Colorado where young Waldo was housed sum it all up. Dragging this shadow world into the light, she and husband Bill Nimmo walked away from Wall Street careers to found Tigers in America, a nonprofit devoted to rescuing the magnificent, fierce-and, tragically, growing-American tiger population. The rise in captive breeding and ramshackle roadside zoos tell of a sordid industry too abysmal-too dangerous-for her to turn a blind eye. Not long ago, Reeves discovered the mysterious and largely unregulated world of privately owned tigers in the U.S. Reassuring the 500-pound animal, she eyed the cramped dirt yard behind him that was his home. He lifted his chin and chuffed, a rush of throaty air. As the wind struck in sharp, punchy gusts, she leaned closer to the chain-link fence, talking quietly with 4-year-old Waldo, a tiger pacing at the cage’s edge.
In worn-out Levi’s, Kizmin Reeves ’72 ignored the bracing Colorado cold.
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