When it comes to celebrity pets there are three unmatched pairings: MJ and Bubbles the Chimp, George Clooney and Max the Pig, and Mike Tyson and Kenya the Tiger.
The boxer and his pet predator shared a house for 16 years. He reportedly once housed three Bengal tigers, Boris, Storm, and Kenya, brought from India by his car dealer. Tyson got the idea when he was serving time in jail for a rape conviction in the late ’90s when, during a phone call, the dealer told him he knew how to access exotic pets. When “Iron” Mike returned to his Las Vegas home, he had tiger cubs waiting for him.
In different interviews, Tyson talked about how the tigers slept in his room in different beds, but the smell of their farts was “the worst thing in the world” — they were fed horse and chicken meat. He also detailed their fights for his attention, which were some of the only times the ruthless boxer was intimidated by the large cats. Speaking on his podcast, Hot Boxin with Mike Tyson, the 58-year-old said that although he was never bitten by the tigers, he did once get bitten by his pet mountain lion while attempting to give him a Tetanus vaccine, resulting in the heavyweight fighter needing eight stitches.
The tigers would ride around in Tyson’s cars while he drove, and travel with him whenever he went out of state. The boxer always made sure he had the correct permits for each location (unlike Justin Bieber, who got his pet monkey confiscated in Germany in 2013 for lack of documentation). Apart from his three tigers, Tyson also kept cougars and lions, but these days he only hangs with his dogs and his pigeons.
So, whatever happened to Boris, Storm, and Kenya?
Tyson decided to give Boris and Storm away to a sanctuary when they became too big, reaching up to 500 and 600 pounds, but, as mentioned, kept Kenya, his favorite, for over a decade.
The fun was over when the tiger violently attacked a neighbor’s arm after she had jumped the fence to play with the cat. The boxer told the Fat Joe Show that the victim tried to sue but since she had trespassed, the case was dropped. He still gave her $250,000, though, because the injury was that gnarly.
“I didn’t know what they could do to a person’s flesh. I had no idea,” he said, confessing that keeping wild animals — who would have thought?! — was maybe not the best idea.
You know what I learned? I was foolish. There’s no way you’re going to domesticate these cats 100%. They kill you by accident, they don’t even mean to kill you. They do it by accident — too strong. Especially when you’re playing rough with them, punching them, and they’re getting hyped back, hit you back, then you’re dead. “I loved them, I used to sleep with them. I’m just happy I educated myself, I know it was late … but I was doing the wrong s—. I shouldn’t have had them in my house. I was wrong.”
Published: Aug 26, 2024 05:16 pm