Tiger cub smuggled to US offered for sale on Facebook, feds say. Now he’s at sanctuary

A man offered to sell a tiger cub for thousands of dollars over Facebook and WhatsApp after the cub was smuggled into the U.S. from Mexico, federal prosecutors said.

Now, about a year later, an indictment charges the 40-year-old New Mexico resident with a conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico announced in a Dec. 12 news release.

Information regarding the man’s legal representation wasn’t immediately available Jan. 16.

The Lacey Act makes it illegal to transport and sell certain wildlife, including tigers, lions, cheetahs and other big cats.

In January 2023, the tiger cub, now named Duke, was rescued after police officers responded to an unrelated shooting, McClatchy News previously reported.

Since then, a wildlife sanctuary in Colorado has become Duke’s home, according to prosecutors.

Trail of blood leads police to the cub

On Jan. 10, 2023, Albuquerque police officers responded to a shooting and found an injured person, who they believed was struck by a stray bullet outside an Allsup’s Convenience Store, McClatchy News previously reported.

Then, they heard a gunshot from a nearby home and located a man with a semiautomatic handgun, police said. This individual was taken into custody.

Officers noticed a trail of blood at the scene and followed it to an unlocked trailer, where they spotted a Bengal tiger cub inside a dog crate, according to police.

The tiger was alone inside the trailer, as officers said they didn’t find anyone inside.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife and the Drug Enforcement Administration helped the local officers seize the tiger cub, prosecutors said.

Man tries selling the tiger

An investigation revealed the young tiger had been smuggled to New Mexico from Mexico between Nov. 20, 2022 and Dec. 2, 2022, according to the man’s indictment.

The man, of Albuquerque, is accused of transporting the tiger with the help of other people, who weren’t named in the indictment.

According to prosecutors, there’s video evidence of the man’s possession of Duke.

In videos of the tiger obtained by investigators, the man’s right hand is seen with a distinctive tattoo, according to the indictment.

On Dec. 17, investigators learned the man offered to sell Duke for $16,000, the indictment says.

Five days before Duke was rescued, a person texted the man asking him to “come for the tiger” because “there is cops outside,” according to the indictment.

The man told this person he “arranged for someone to come pick up the tiger,” the indictment says.

If convicted of conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act, the man would face up to five years in prison, according to prosecutors.

The man is also one of 15 people charged with drug trafficking in a separate case, prosecutors said.

Duke’s new home at the sanctuary

After Duke’s rescue, prosecutors said he was temporarily transferred to ABQ BioPark, a zoo in Albuquerque.

The park estimated Duke was about 4 months old when he arrived, McClatchy News reported in February 2023.

“During his monthlong stay at the BioPark, Duke received a healthy diet of meat to support his growth and development,” the park said at the time.

Afterward, Duke was taken to the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg, Colorado, prosecutors said.

In a “welcome home” Facebook post for Duke on Feb. 15, 2023, the sanctuary wrote “Duke will be able to join other juvenile tigers living at the Sanctuary and spend the rest of his life living in a large natural habitat.”

Now, Duke is living in a “large acreage natural habitat” with a female tiger named Gracie, Austin Hill, the sanctuary’s public relations director, told McClatchy News Jan. 19.

“He still has some growing to do, but he’s a beautiful, healthy tiger,” Hill said.

“Duke, of course, was neutered, so he will not be able to breed, but he is still ecstatic to have a female roommate to romp, roam and share a new life with,” Hill added.

He enjoys swimming when it’s warm outside and also enjoys running through the snow, according to Hill.

“We expect Duke and his new partner, Gracie, to have a long, happy life together living at the world’s largest carnivore Sanctuary,” Hill said.

This story was originally published January 16, 2024 at 3:54 PM with the headline "Tiger cub smuggled to US offered for sale on Facebook, feds say. Now he’s at sanctuary."

Julia Marnin

McClatchy DC

Julia Marnin covers courts for McClatchy News, writing about criminal and civil affairs, including cases involving policing, corrections, civil liberties, fraud, and abuses of power. As a reporter on McClatchy’s National Real-Time Team, she’s also covered the COVID-19 pandemic and a variety of other topics since joining in 2021, following a fellowship with Newsweek. Born in Biloxi, Mississippi, she was raised in South Jersey and is now based in New York State.