Border Patrol agents found a live tiger cub inside a duffel bag after they saw three people try to enter the U.S. illegally. (U.S. Border Patrol)
Three illegal immigrants tried to smuggle a live tiger cub inside a duffel bag across the Mexican border and into Texas, the U.S. Border Patrol said.
The individuals abandoned the duffel bag Monday after being spotted trying to enter the U.S. illegally through the Rio Grande by Brownsville Border Patrol agents. The suspects bolted back to Mexico.
The male tiger cub appeared to be three or four months old, officials said.
“NOT an average day in the field, as Brownsville Border Patrol Agents rescue a tiger!" Irma Chapa, a spokeswoman for the Border Patrol’s Rio Grande Valley sector, tweeted.
She reported in another tweet that the tiger was expected to make a full recovery.
The animal was turned over to the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville.
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