A French couple who answered an online ad to buy a Savannah kitten ended up with a tiger cub instead.
The couple, from Le Havre — a coastal town in Normandy, about 110 miles west of Paris — plunked down $7,000 for the little cat, who they were told was an exotic mix between a Serval and a domestic cat.
After about a week, they realized their “kitten” was a tiger cub and contacted authorities, UPI reported. Specialists from the French Biodiversity Office determined the cub is a Sumatran tiger and are caring for the growing cat.
That happened back in 2018, and the reason we’re only hearing about it now is because French police have completed their investigation in which they tracked down the seller and arrested nine people on animal trafficking laws.
There are only some 4,000 tigers remaining in the wild in the entire world. Habitat destruction, poaching and the illegal wildlife market are the primary causes pushing the iconic big cats to extinction.
Meanwhile, Buddy the Cat believes he too was born of wild tiger stock and was mistaken for a common kitten when he was adopted by Big Buddy.
“Obviously, they dyed my fur gray,” Buddy said. “But they couldn’t do anything to hide how ripped I am.”
All images via Wikimedia Commons.
Pain In The Bud 
I knew Buddy was secretly a tiger, I just knew it!
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He’s been very insistent about that…still no roar though 🙂
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Here kitty kitty kitty! What big teeth you have!
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Once I was coming back up the driveway from getting the mail, when I saw an exotic looking bluish-gray cat in the bushes. I gasped and froze, thinking I was seeing a bobcat cub. But then I realized it was just “Bluey,” the neighbors blue abyssinian mix. He was a pretty boy! Oh, I hope all those animal traffickers go to jail, btw! $7,000 for a cat is stupid too. 😛
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It’s crazy what people pay. A friend of mine who moved down to the Outer Banks texted me a “lost cat” poster from his neighborhood with IIRC a $10k reward for the cat, which was a Savannah who originally cost $20k. Likewise, a woman in my neighborhood was offering $5k for the return of her cat last year. I think he was a Bengal.
Do you see a lot of mountain lions where you live?
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I don’t know why people don’t just adopt a cat or kitten. All cats are beautiful in my opinion! I don’t know why they need a special breed… Status symbol? I hate that. Well, we definitely have mountain lions and bobcats in our area, but I’ve never seen one. There are warning signs on all the park trails. I don’t spend much time doing outdoors-y things, but if I ever saw one, I know I’d be scared! 😮
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