Jafar is one of the thirteen cats that came from Van, Texas. His mother, Cypress, was another tiger in this group. Cypress was also the mother of the ‘kids’ and Cincinnati.

The Van cats came in three separate groups. The three cougars arrived January 14th, seven of the tigers arrived February 4th, and the remaining three tigers came home February 5th, 2014. All thirteen cats were re-homed as part of an agreement between In-Sync Exotics and the Caruth C Byrd Wildlife Foundation, which were re-homing their carnivores.

The Van cats ranged in ages three to eighteen, and some were more human imprinted than others. Their former home was bare concrete, with no bedding, and no enrichment/toys of any kind.

Jafar close up cutie
jafar standing

Jafar has a very striking and unique look! His dark stripes bring a beautiful contrast to his rich orange fur, giving him an intense, gorgeous, and beautiful look. When he first arrived, Jafar was underweight and fearful of change. His greatest strength came from his bond with his mother, Cypress, who he was living with. After a few days and reassurance from his mom, Jafar’s personality started to emerge. Turns out he is a very curious little boy, and continues to be to this day! A few days after his arrival, we experienced the first of sporadic snow storms in Texas. Jafar, the curious boy who could, was the first set of Van cats to confidently run out into the snow and play. He continues to do this now anytime it snows or ices in our area. He has the grace of a hockey player on ice.

Jafar lived with his mother, Cypress, in their old home, but they did not always get along very well. Cypress wished to be an empty nester, but Jafar felt otherwise. The previous facility had not had the ability to separate them when needed allowing frustrations to grow. When they relocated to In-Sync, we were able to place them in a large den area that allowed them to live adjacent to each other. The two did spend time together in the playground so that they could continue the special mother-son bond. They had the best of both worlds, love with boundaries, until her death in 2018. Just like humans, animals also go through a grieving process. It took Jafar time and the love from his favorite volunteers and keepers to bounce back to his peppy self.

Jafar is more like the ‘kids’ and often amuses himself with his environment rather than his attachments to people. This is not to say he doesn’t have his favorite people or loves to prank the humans. Jafar’s favorite prank is to wait until feeders come to his enclosure to feed him, and hop in his tub and paw at the water, thoroughly soaking everyone. He is highly food motivated so he skillfully avoids getting water in the food while pranking humans. Come out during a feeding tour and watch him soak the feeders head to toe in the winter!

Due to his food motivation, Jafar is part of our training program. This allows us to complete small veterinary procedures, i.e. blood draw, weight checks, etc. without using anesthesia. Jafar is one of our best pupils! He also enjoys kicking his blue barrel around, swimming in his pool, and “marveling” at his new neighbors. It’s hard not to love this impressive, bold, playful boy.

cypress and jafar in pool
jafar looking curious

Species: Bengal Tiger
(Panthera tigris tigris)

Sex: Male
Born: September 9, 2008
Rescued: February 4, 2014

jafar on white tube sleeping
jafar wet in pool
jafar in a pool playing