Border patrol agent Marshall Maynard was working in Brownsville, Texas, close to the Rio Grande border, in April 2018. The life of a border agent is never dull, and so Maynard wasn’t as surprised as he might have been to see three individuals trying to enter the United States illegally.
He leapt into action, but the trio fled before he could catch up to them. It was then that he noticed they’d dropped a black duffel bag on the ground, so he dutifully opened it to investigate.
Suffice to say what he found trapped inside the bag left him stunned …
It must be fairly difficult to shock a border patrol agent. After all, a large portion of their job revolves around encountering the weird and not-so-wonderful.
Even Marshall Maynard was left reeling, though, when he searched a black duffel bag that had been dropped by three men trying to illegally enter the U.S.
Maynard unzipped the bag, only to find a 3-month-old tiger cub curled up inside. The cat was alive, but appeared sedated.
Agents from the border patrol rushed the cub to receive medical aid, and were later told that had they not acted so fast he might well have died. Apparently, the youngster was described as being “on death’s door”, running a temperature of 107 degrees. 30 more minutes inside the bag would have been enough to have killed him.
Eventually, the cub was handed over to the care of Gladys Porter Zoo, where he quickly regained his strength. He’s since doubled in weight – he’s now 70 pounds or so – and a glow has returned to his fur.
According to the Brownsville Herald, senior veterinarian Thomas DeMaar explained that the zoo is using the tiger’s rescue as an opportunity to educate its visitors on wildlife trafficking.
“Sometimes, people don’t even know that these things are prohibited or that they have a serious effect on wildlife conservation. These animals are being extracted from their natural habitat and put in as commercial entity,” he said.
Thank goodness Marshall Maynard was able to find the cub when he did. Just 30 minutes later, and it could well have been a very different story.
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