Andre the Tiger
Andre
Male Tiger
1/1/96 – 2/24/19
Rescued 9/28/11
Andre Tiger passed away peacefully in his sleep. It’s very rare that a cat passes on their own here, as there are usually late stage medical issues that cause us to be on constant vigil which usually end in us having to make the decision to end a cat’s suffering. While Andre was getting special meals every day to make sure he ate enough, he appeared to be quite comfortable, right to the end. Just recently we watched him enjoying Valentine’s Day enrichment. His passing also gave Amanda time to process it, and she had already moved to the cage next door when we discovered and removed him. You can leave tributes to him in the comments below.
Arthur, Andre and Amanda were born in 1996 in New Jersey to be used as pay-to-play photo props. It never makes sense to breed more cubs to raise money to feed last year’s cats, and the New Jersey facility fell into disrepair and then was shut down after USDA revoked their license following a tiger escape.
In 2003, Wild Animal Orphanage took in the 24 tigers but big cats have big appetites and by 2010 the Wild Animal Orphanage was in bankruptcy.
It took over a year to find permanent homes for all of the cats because it is hard to place a big cat who will cost $10,000 per year in food and vet care.
Amazingly, an anonymous donor couple who had known these tigers as cubs fortuitously stepped in to fund the ongoing care of these three lucky tigers who came to Big Cat Rescue in 2011.
Andre is the friendliest of the three tigers who live together. He always greets his keepers and guests alike with a hefty chuff.
He is easily identified within the group because all four of his canine teeth are broken off. According to his care givers at WAO, when he was rescued in 2003 he bit the transport cage and broke off all of his canines. After the incident he did not receive any dental care.
Once he arrived at Big Cat Rescue it became a top priority to get him and his mates the dental work they required. A specialist in veterinary dental work, Dr. Peak, arranged a visit to the sanctuary and performed four root canals on Andre which took nearly three hours. Now that the sensitive nerves have been removed from the canine nubs Andre is completely pain free.
Read more about the rescue of three tigers from Texas here.
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Fly free, whole, healthy, and forever Loved, sweet angel Andre! SO glad you were able to spend good years at BigCatRescue, loved, well provided for, respected, and protected. In your honor and memory, we will work hard to get SB 1380, the Big Cat Public Safety Act/Big Cat Act, passed and a companion bill passed in the Senate when it is introduced. And I pray it will become law very soon, but if this administration does not pass it, we will never give up. NO big cat should ever be exploited as you were, Andre. We love you and will always hold you in our hearts. *Heartfelt condolences to everyone at BCR.*
So Sorry to hear about Andre Tiger. BCR took wonderful care of the three siblings. Thank you for sharing this with us. I know Andre Tiger is keeping an eye out for all of you.
Fly free Andre. Give Arthur head butts and face scrubs for us. You’ll be terribly missed.
R I P dear Andre. So sad to read this, I hoped you would get better. You are now over the ? with Artur. BCR will take good care of Amanda. I wish everybody at BCR a lot of strength, thank you for everything and taking such good care of him. ??
Thought I posted already but not sure where it went. I was so sad to read of Andre’s passing but it gives comfort to know he passed peacefully in his sleep with Amanda by his side. My heart hurts for the staff, volunteers, keepers, interns and vet staff who knew Andre so well. He was much loved. I had the pleasure and honor to see him in January. You are finally free of cages Andre – give Arthur a big chuff for me.
Oh no!! Sweet boy! You went in your way, enjoying life to the end!!! So sad that you have passed, so happy you are now free!! We will miss your cute, silly tiger self very much!!! Love, hugs and many prayers to your keepers and staff as they endure much sadness… this is so hard when so many cats are nearing final retirement age!! Hang in there Everypawdy! We love you and support you from afar!!
Run in Paradise Andre. Your brother Arthur is waiting for you across the rainbow bridge. We loved you both and will miss seeing you on Facebook and the Explore cameras.
Oh my god, what kind of sick person would break off a tiger's teeth? That's disgusting.