Border Agents Search Duffel Bag, Find Tiger (Photos)

BROWNSVILLE, TX — A tiger cub that was found unconscious inside a black duffel bag by border patrol agents in Texas is now recovering at a local zoo. Three people tried to enter the country unlawfully on Monday, prompting Brownsville agents to respond, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a release.

The trio was carrying a duffel bag when they were spotted. They abandoned the bag and returned to Mexico, officials said.

The agents looked inside and found the tiger stuffed inside. Officials estimated the tiger was about three to four months old.

Irma Chapa, communications director for the Rio Grande Valley section of the agency, wrote in a tweet that it was "NOT an average day in the field."

The animal has since been turned over to the Gladys Porter Zoo and is expected to make a full recovery.

This isn't the first time authorities have discovered a tiger at the border. Eight years ago, border agents in Laredo, Texas, found a small Bengal tiger cub that was abandoned in a cage. That animal was about four to six months old.

America is one of the world’s top consumers of illegal wildlife and Latin America has increasingly become a hub for wildlife tracking, according to a 2015 report by the conservation group Defenders of Wildlife. The most frequently seized animals and animal products were queen conches, sea turtles, caimans, crocodiles and iguanas.

NOT an average day in the field, as Brownsville Border Patrol Agents rescue a tiger! Updates to come.@CBPRGV pic.twitter.com/Q8OFlJc8VZ
— Irma Chapa (@chapa_irma) April 30, 2018

UPDATE: Rescued tiger cub expected to make a full recovery! Saved by Brownsville Border Patrol. @CBPRGV #USBP #CBP #USBPRGV #meangreen #DHS pic.twitter.com/271Gq7NzQq
— Irma Chapa (@chapa_irma) May 1, 2018

Photo credit: US Customs and Border Protection