Quiet tiger! Baffled residents stumble across male Bengalis prowling down the street in suburban Mexico – where they can be bought online for as little as $25
- Video shows an adult male tiger walking down a street in the Mexican city of Tecuala on Tuesday morning
- The wild animal was spotted walking the sidewalk when a local resident filmed it
- The wildcat eventually crossed the street and sat in front of a truck before a man came and led her away with a rope tied around her neck
- It is legal to own wild animals in Mexico and they can be bought online for as little as $25
- Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies passed a law on April 29 banning the ownership and purchase of wild cats. The bill has not yet been voted on in the Senate
Residents of a Mexican suburb were stunned after spotting a tiger sauntering through the streets after fleeing its owner’s home.
Video of the incident shows a woman hurrying away from the Bengalis male while filming him walking down a sidewalk in Tecuala, a city about 300 miles southwest of Sinaloa with a population of more than 40,000 people, on Tuesday.
In the video, a child can be heard shouting “Mom” before telling him, “Shut up! It won’t hurt you, it’s on the other side.’
A person can be heard off-camera warning the couple that the tiger is still a danger.
It is legal to own wild animals in Mexico and they can be bought online for as little as $25.
Residents of a Mexican suburban neighborhood freaked out after a tiger fled its owner’s home and was forced to roam the streets
Video of the incident shows a woman hurrying away from the Bengalis male while filming him walking down a sidewalk in Tecuala, a city about 300 miles southwest of Sinaloa with a population of more than 40,000 people, on Tuesday
It is legal to own wild animals in Mexico and they can be bought online for as little as $25. The tiger, filmed on Tuesday, was eventually taken home by its owner
In a second video of the tiger roaming the streets on Tuesday, the cat can be seen on the ground in front of a truck that was parked next to the house it fled from.
The owner approaches the animal and puts a rope around its neck. Shocked local residents watch as the rope detaches and falls as the animal is led away.
Animal rights activist Antonio Franyuti told Infoabe it’s common to find the feral cats in the backyards, on the rooftops, in the basements and in the garages of homes across Mexico because it’s legal for people to own the animals.
A man puts a rope around the tiger’s neck after finding it sitting in front of a truck next to a house in Tecuela, western Mexico
Wild animal ownership is currently legal in Mexico, but the Chambers of Deputies passed legislation on April 19 that would eventually ban ownership of feral cats, which are typically sold on social media for between $25 and $35, the state government said Toluca MP Melissa Vargas
On April 29, Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies approved by a vote of 463 to 0 with one abstention a bill that would ban the exotic animals as pets.
The Senate has yet to vote on the proposal, which would ban the purchase of lions, tigers, jaguars and panthers while seeking action against owners who keep the wild animals caged, abandoned and mistreated.
Toluca Rep. Melissa Vargas added that people would have to pay between $25 and $35 for baby wild cats being sold online.
“They are very cute, but feral cats are not pets and we must ensure their welfare,” Vargas said.