Zahra and Assad Dost were confiscated by the Webb County Sheriff’s Department and Texas Parks & Wildlife officers. The previous owners did not have the proper permits or the appropriate habitat for them. They had no platforms, no pools, no toys, and no enrichment of any kind. They didn’t even have names. Along with Assad Dost and Zahra, the previous owners were also forced to surrender the two bears they possessed. We drove down and transported both bears to the Frank Buck Zoo, at the request of Texas Parks & Wildlife, and brought our beautiful “babies” to their new home.
Zahra, from day one, is an outgoing, sweet, and doting tiger. She delights in her enrichment, her pool, and snoozing in the sun on her playground. She was nervous at first about her new playground, something she never had prior to coming to In-Sync Exotics, but she warmed up quickly.
Zahra arrived with an inconspicuous and delightful surprise! After just a month of living in her new home, at In-Sync, she gave birth to a beautiful and healthy white tiger cub, who we named Kylo Ren. Unfortunately, most private owners and entertainment facilities fail to spay and neuter their exotics animals in hopes of creating more offspring. We were aware when we acquired both tigers that they were unaltered. As standard practice, we neutered Assad, the male, immediately. Days before Zahra’s spay was scheduled, she gave birth to Kylo Ren. Though Zahra was not aggressive towards the cub she refused to nurse him. We waited as long as possible hoping that she would start nursing him, but we ended up having to remove the cub and hand-rear him because she was not nursing him.
Zahra is a very charming and outgoing white tiger. White tigers are not a subspecies, but rather a genetic mutation. There are a few documented cases of white tigers in the wilds of India, but in captivity white tigers are usually a byproduct of inbreeding. Entertainment facilities are lax in their breeding practices and often encourage inbreeding in order to acquire cubs of different melanistic variations in order to increase profit. White tigers, due to lack of genetic variation, tend to display strabismus (crossed eyes), along with major and minor health complications. Fortunately, Zahra is a healthy and spry tiger.
Zahra adores enrichment, her pool, and snoozing in the sun on her playground. At first, she was nervous about her new playground, but she warmed up quickly and wasted no time “claiming” her territory and enjoying the bliss that can only be felt from chasing a Jolly Egg. Zahra and Assad live happily together across from her son and his two best friends. She has no qualms telling them to keep it down when their “parties” are too loud or keeping the “teenage” boys in check when there’s a disagreement with the power only a mother possesses.
