Kylo Ren was an immense and delightful surprise! Unbeknownst to us, Zahra, his mother, was two months pregnant when we rescued her and her brother, Assad. We were made aware that Zahra and Assad had been living together intact (with reproductive organs) before we rescued them, but we were unaware that Zahra was already pregnant.
So it is not an understatement when we say he was a huge tiny surprise found in the den one morning during daily cat checks. With recommendation from our veterinarian we left Zahra alone with the cub, monitoring from a distance. Though thankfully Zahra was not aggressive towards him, she did not nurse, clean or bond with her cub. We left Kylo Ren with her for as long as possible after some time had passed and she still refused to allow him to nurse but we had to relocate him to our vet clinic to hand-rear him.
The hardest part of raising little Kylo Ren started as soon as we moved him to the vet clinic. As a newborn, he required 24 hour hands-on, loving, and gentle care provided by staff, veterinarians and volunteers until he was old enough to eat solid foods. Once he showed us he was able to eat on his own, his type of care changed from “baby” to “toddler.” The time spent was catered to keeping him stimulated and active through enrichment.
During his cub stage of life, Kylo Ren was introduced to Kenobi and later Anakin. The three boys quickly formed a bond, a brotherhood, and have since been affectionately referred to as the “Jedi Boys.”
Fast forward a few years, including the “terrible twos,” and Kylo Ren has grown into a beautiful adult male white tiger. While white tigers are not a separate subspecies of tigers but rather a melanistic mutation usually caused by inbreeding. White tigers, due to their genetic mutation tend to experience health issues, fortunately Kylo Ren only demonstrates strabismus, crossed eyes which is common in white tigers.
He is a very loving and playful boy who adores enrichment, nose dives into the pool, taunting his “brothers,” and playing with his toys on his playground. He also loves his human caretakers, often greeting them at the fence with chuffs and cheek rubs. When you come out, head over to “Outer Rim” and watch this beautiful “baby boy” harness his “force” and lead his brothers into playground mischief.
