Humans are capable of incredible things, good and bad. It is in that capacity for good or evil that we see some incredible stories of the struggle between the good and bad. The story of one tiger spans both. From a life of pain to a life of joy, one little cub learns what it means to love again.
Aasha is a Bengal tiger who was found at 9 months old.
Bengal tigers are majestic and wonderful animals. They are an endangered breed that usually lives in India, and at a certain point, they were fewer than 2,500 individuals strong. Even in their current situation, people still try to use them for their fur and wild appeal.
When Aasha was found, things didn’t look good.
Aasha was a baby tiger cub that was found by Vicky Keahey, founder of In-Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue and Educational Center. When Vicky heard about Aasha, the little cub was 9 months old and weighed only 30 pounds. For a tiger her age, it should have been triple that.
When Vicky heard about Aasha, she knew she had to act.
“I asked how could a 9-month-old tiger be that small,” Vicky told The Dodo.
Finding out the situation Aasha was in, Vicky knew that she needed to fo something. Aasha was a part of a traveling circus and was sharing a cage with a much larger tiger.
The USDA agreed to act and Vicky was able to get a better look at Aasha.
After the USDA was able to move in and take the withered tiger away from the circus, Vicky got a closer look at her. When she saw up close the state of the tiger, she knew exactly that the problem with the animal was. With bald spots and rashes all over her body, Aasha was covered in ringworm. Even worse, she had open wounds from bad interactions with the larger tiger.
“Aasha’s bald spots covered almost her entire body and her skin was dry [with] cracked, darken areas and bleeding,”
Vicky took Aasha in and immediately started treatment.
The recovery process would be long and arduous but Vicky was ready for it.
“Every day, twice a day, I would go in and give Aasha medications and spend time with her,” Keahey said. “I knew I was going to have to handle her in order to get her well.”
Soon, little tufts of fur started growing back on the bald areas. The little tiger also started to gain weight.
Originally, the tiger hated water but after a few tries, learned to love it.
Soon, Aasha was taking baths in a tub and swimming around whenever she could. The timidity that she lived with started to go away as she grew and grew. Little Aasha was getting older and healthier. After 8 months, it was time for her to meet some other tigers.
At her first meeting, Aasha got to have a supervised hang out with Smuggler, a male tiger.
On their first hangout, things seemed to work out well! Soon, they had a string of supervised “dates” where the two got to know each other a bit better. Soon, everyone felt safe enough to where the two could move in together. The little relationship was a success! It seems that some stories really do have a happy ending!
Check out the video of Aasha and Smuggler on one of their dates!
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