Aasha, a Bengal tiger, was just 9 months old. But she weighed around 30 pounds, which was a size more appropriate for a 3-month-old cub.
“I asked how could a 9-month-old tiger be that small,” Keahey told The Dodo. As Keahey learned more, Aasha’s sad story came together piece by piece – painting the scene for an all-too-familiar scene: Aasha belonged to a traveling circus. She shared a cage with a much larger tiger, who frequently picked on her.
“Aasha’s bald spots covered almost her entire body and her skin was dry [with] cracked, darken areas and bleeding,” Keahey said. She also had open wounds, which Keahey assumed were bite marks from the larger tiger she lived with. A trip to the veterinarian confirmed Aasha’s ringworm, and she was taken to an isolated enclosure at In-Sync Exotics.
“By the time the treatments were over, Aasha loved the water so I put a small tub in [her enclosure] for her to splash in,” she said.
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Under Keahey’s care, Aasha began to grow in size and, even though Keahey was unable to sit in Aasha’s enclosure with her now that she was bigger and healthier, she still loved to interact with the tigress through games like giving Aasha a good soaking with a hose.
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“Within eight months she looked like a real tiger, and it was time to see how she would react to other tigers,” Keahey said.
“We loaded her up and put her right next door to Smuggler. He went crazy for her and was always showing off for her,” she said.
Aasha striking a pose | In-Sync Exotics/Karin Saucedo
Despite the fact that Smuggler was three times Aasha’s size, Keahey sensed that there was an attraction between the two …
Aasha reaching out to Smuggler | In-Sync Exotics
… and believed that Aasha would be able to handle herself with the male tiger, so the two underwent a dating process.
Aasha and Smuggler loving their tub-time together | In-Sync Exotics
They got to know each other better through supervised playdates, until they were ready to move into the same enclosure together.
Smuggler giving Aasha a kiss | In-Sync Exotics/Karin Saucedo
“That was about four years ago,” Keahey said.
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“Aasha is still about half Smuggler’s size, but he knows when to steer clear of her,” she continued.
In-Sync Exotics/Karin Saucedo
Aasha’s grown from a sickly tiger cub – a victim of mistreatment and neglect – to a playful, confident adult tiger with a love for the one thing she used to be scared of most …
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… the water.
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