Ex Circus Tiger Starts New Life At Florida Sanctuary: WILDEST ANIMAL RESCUES

Before his rescue from an illegal circus this tiger had never wetted his paws - now he swims in his own lake every day. Animal Defenders International (ADI) were on track to rescue Hoover and one other tiger from the circus during a nationwide law enforcement operation in 2014, but the circus went underground and Hoover was lost for almost a year until a member of the public tipped off ADI to the location of the Peruvian circus. Together with Peruvian wildlife officials, ADI seized Hoover from the circus - he later became the sole survivor of up to 12 tigers who were kept by Circo Africano - and took the emaciated, parasite infested tiger to their temporary holding facility. Finally, in April 2016 BCR received the green light from United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), in time for Hoover to arrive at his new one-acre enclosure on his twelfth birthday.

Videographer / director: Big Cat Rescue
Producer: Hannah Stevens, Ellie Winstanley
Editor: Sonia Estal