Who knows the difficult things that this innocent animal has been through?
The illegal animal trade means that thousands, if not millions, of animals go through suffering every year.
The story of this Siberian tiger cub is just one shocking example.
One morning, a plastic crate was dumped outside of a restaurant in Mexico City. Inside, its occupant, the baby tiger, was incredibly ill.
It hadn’t eaten for days. Hearing cars and people bustling about, the creature was too scared to leave its shelter for hours on end.
Eventually, when the traffic died down it poked its head out.
It tried to run away, but as it ran, something jerked it back.
The cub’s neck had been chained to the crate. As much as she wanted to run free, she couldn’t.
Then people started noticing the tiger cub.
A man and woman left the restaurant and initially scared by the creature. After all, tigers are dangerous.
But they soon realized that the cub was too young and weak to pose any threat.
So they stood near it and took some selfies.
After that, they gave it a few scraps of leftovers, got in their car and abandoned it.
Later that same day, some other patrons of the restaurant alerted the owner. They explained that, believe it or not, a tiger cub was chained in the parking lot.
But the restaurant owner responded in a way that shocked the informers.
The owner explained that the tiger was his pet and was a trick to bring new customers to the restaurant. He encouraged the informers to take some pictures with it and even pet it.
The informers noted that the tiger looked too thin, but the owner insisted that it was fine.
So the informers took their seats and forgot about it.
The same things would happen to the cub for over a week. Many people wanted pictures with it. Some gave it tiny bits of food. But none would do anything to help.
But then, a week ago, someone finally realized how much the animal was suffering and called the authorities.
Still, it took days for anything to happen.
Eventually, the Mexican equivalent of the ASPCA arrived to rescue the poor cub.
When the cub was taken to a shelter, a range of tests was carried out on her. She was suffering from acute calcium deficiency.
Luckily, she has since made a strong recovery and will be cared for until a proper home is found.
“The cub is likely destined for a lifetime in a zoo or other facility,” said Susan Bass, who is the PR manager for Big Cat Rescue.
But where did the tiger cub come from?
Sadly, abused and neglected tiger cubs are becoming more and more common with every passing day.
The illegal animal trade is thriving. The tiger’s mother is probably still in captivity somewhere, where she is being bred and almost definitely abused.
“The cubs that are discovered by authorities and reported on in the media are most likely just a small percentage of the actual number of cubs being bred, exploited and suffering in Mexico,” Bass said.
Hopefully, in future years, the Mexican government will crack down on its illegal animal trade.
But it also needs to do other things to help these animals. For instance, in the entire country, there is currently not one big cat sanctuary.
The good news is that people are becoming more and more informed of the suffering that tigers and similar animals are going through. This should decrease the demand for exotic animals, meaning that less will suffer in the future.
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