Ming Settles In At Ohio Sanctuary

by Patricia Collier and ANC Staff

A 425-pound Bengal-Siberian tiger named ‘Ming’ who was sedated and removed from a Harlem, NY apartment on October 4 is now being cared for at Noah’s Lost Ark Animal Sanctuary in Berlin Center, Ohio.

Sanctuary staff are determined to retain custody of Ming, despite vocal opposition from friends of the tiger’s previous owner, Antoine Yates.

Yates reportedly called police October 1 and told them he had been bitten by a pit bull. He met authorities in the lobby of his apartment building and then went to an area hospital to be treated for the bite wounds.

When medical staff said the bites could not have come from a dog, Yates left the hospital of his own accord.

Authorities didn’t find out that Yates was harboring wild animals until three days later, after complaints and tips from nearby residents.

Yates was arrested last Saturday at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center in Philadelphia, where he was recovering from bite wounds inflicted by the big cat.

During the widely publicized capture, officers also removed a 5-foot alligator named Al, a second tiger, some cubs, two Rottweilers, rabbits and a tarantula from Yates’ apartment.

The alligator was relocated to a sanctuary in Indiana. The whereabouts of the other animals is not known at this time.

Authorities said Yates had been keeping all the animals in his fifth-floor apartment in the Harlem housing project where he lived.

After his arrest, Yates told officers the tiger had grabbed him and "tore open my whole leg down to the bone."

When asked why he had raised the wild animals in his apartment, he said he had been "trying to create a Garden of Eden, something that this world lacks."

According to a WCCO-TV report on Tuesday, Yates claimed he originally obtained Ming as a 6-week-old cub, from Kenneth and Nancy Kraft, owners of the BEARCAT Hollow animal park in southern Minnesota. When contacted, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said they are currently investigating the Krafts in connection with alleged illegal trade and transport of federally protected species.

WCCO-TV also reported that the Krafts were recently indicted in Minneapolis for allegedly making an illegal purchase of another tiger, named "Como," who was later destroyed after biting a small girl. New York police said Yates has waived extradition, which will allow the state to charge him with a felony count of reckless endangerment.

They said officers are still searching for a lion who had also been kept by Yates in his apartment. Yates apparently told police the lion was dead, but interviews with his family have led police detectives to suspect the lion is still alive and is being kept somewhere in Brooklyn.

© 2003 Animal News Center, Inc.