Bengali the tiger is making a big roar with her latest accomplishment – being the world’s oldest living tiger in captivity!
At the age of 25 years and 319 days, she lives in Tiger Creek Animal Sanctuary in Tyler, Texas, USA.
"Typically, tigers live 15-20 years in captivity and only about 12 years in the wild. Our oldest resident, Bengali, has more than surpassed these expectations with her current age!" - Tiger Creek Animal Sanctuary
Bengali first came to the zoo in 2000, where she showed signs of shyness and would often hide from visitors.
Over time however, she became acclimated to her new home and can now be seen lounging in her yard area and interacting with guests at the sanctuary.
Despite spending the last two decades at the sanctuary, Bengali has never had tiger cubs.
During an average day, Bengali gets fed several meals, gives herself baths, and finds shady spots for her rather long cat naps.
Her favourite treat is something you won't be able to find at your local ice cream parlour – she loves blood popsicles, and gets rather excited to eat them!
"The staff here provide meals to Bengali on a silver platter! Well, it’s stainless steel, but it’s silver in color anyway. She never goes hungry and never has to worry about where her next meal may come from" - Tiger Creek Animal Sanctuary
One of the staff’s favourite memories with Bengali was celebrating her 21st birthday.
Together they threw a party which had a sanitized empty keg, which Bengali playfully pounced and laid on for the rest of the day.
Now that she has been officially recognized with her Guinness World Records title, the Tiger Creek personnel are extremely excited to have a record-breaking tiger as part of their family.
Now Bengali is looking forward to celebrating her 26th birthday, which takes place 31 August this year.
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