This story began at the United States border. Back in April, a border patrol agent took note of three individuals who were attempting to enter the country illegally. Marshall Maynard did his best to stop them but when he began his approach, the group fled immediately. Before they took off, they left a duffel bag on the ground. You will not believe what was inside!

Once the agent made his way towards the bag to open it for himself, he was stunned. A tiger cub was inside and he was just three months old. The little guy was all snuggled up inside of the bag and it was clear to see that he had been sedated for the big journey. The animal was still alive but he was laying motionless. The tiger cub was immediately rushed to a local animal hospital for additional assistance.

If the tiger cub had not been rescued by Maynard, there is no telling what could have happened. By the time he arrived at the animal hospital, he was said to have been on the brink of death. The cub’s body temperature had risen to 107 degrees as a result of being trapped inside of a duffel bag for so long. Experts believe that if another 30 minutes had passed without assistance, the cub would have perished.

Gladys Porter Zoo was more than happy to take the cub in. They provided the creature with a much needed and well deserved second chance. He was able to mend relatively quickly and is said to have a sparkling personality now that he does not have to live inside of a duffel bag. The zoo workers say that he is as friendly as he is inquisitive.

He has fattened up considerably in the meantime as well, tipping the scales at 70 pounds. The zoo is also using this incident as a teachable moment. People need to know that it is not okay to remove wildlife from their natural habitat in order to try and make a quick buck. These actions can have a serious effect on wildlife conservation and need to be taken with the utmost level of seriousness.

These animals should not be extracted from their homes in order to be placed in front of the general public. While this story had a happy endings, there are thousands of animals who are not as fortunate. As for the tiger cub, he is going to be spending his days at an animal sanctuary in Texas now that he is fully mended.