Man Secretly Keeps 350 lb. Tiger In NYC Apartment, Turns Out To Be A Not-So-Purrfect Roommate After Unfortunate Accident

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Blake Seidel • Managing Editor & Brand Manager
Feb 21, 2024 1:00 PM EST

Yeah, yeah, we've all seen Tiger King, but this guy was the Tiger King before Tiger King. Meet Ming, a 350 lb. tiger that was kept by Antoine Yates, who raised her in his apartment along with an alligator named Al. Ming, Al, and Antoine had two roommates in their 5 room apartment in NYC, which is completely unheard of in this day and age. Antoine and Ming were only found out because Ming bit Antoine, and when he rushed to the hospital claiming he was bitten by a Pit Bull, doctors suspected he was lying.

That led to NYPD investigating his apartment and found Ming not-so-happily greeting them. Luckily, Ming was safely transported to a tiger sanctuary where she lived out the rest of her days in peace. This story is a wild ride, so put on your crazy pants and get ready for some silly comments and astonishing facts from this true story below!

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  • 01
    A NYC police officer comes face-to-face with Ming, a 350 lb tiger secretly living in an apartment
    via u/Green____cat
  • 02
    NY' D EUNIT
    via u/Green____cat

    We've heard of getting a pet for protection, but we think that a tiger is taking things a little too far. And forget about getting the deposit back on that department, there's no way you live with a tiger and they don't break everything in sight.

  • 03
    mrmegafatman15 23 hr. ago "Pspspspsps" ↑ 5.4k . Reply Share
    via u/mrmegafatman15

    Actually, in this situation, we want to know what the opposite of "pspspsps" is. We do not want that tiger anywhere near us, especially if it thinks we're trying to make it angry. Good Ming, nice Ming…

  • 04
    FOXTI2OT 22 hr. ago. edited 20 hr. ago This is a pretty good story honestly. There was also an alligator in the apartment named Al. The tiger was only found because the owner got bit but apparently, everyone in the apartment was cool with the tiger. He has a full-on dedicated mausoleum in the Hartsdale NY pet cemetery. "Loved by many" - The tiger was "Ming of Harlem"
    via u/FOXTI2OT
  • 05
    After this incident and its relocation to the sanctuary, Ming was allowed to roam free and thrive there and play with other tigers before dying of natural causes. No human visitors were allowed for 10 years. It died in 2019 and then received the dedicated cemetery monument/mausoleum. These were the "good" parts of the story! It was a fascinating read, glad it worked out for Ming and Al!
    via u/FOXTI2OT
  • 06
    Abysskitten 22 hr. ago Netflix execs twiddling their thumbs and grinning
    via u/Abysskitten
  • 07
    robo-dragon 21 hr. ago "Hey Ming? Landlord said you haven't paid rent in the last five-" ROARS "Understandable. Have a good day."
    via u/robo-dragon
  • 08
    Tad Ghostal1. 20 hr. ago This guy paid for rent in NYC, 20lbs of chicken thighs per day AND bought land all while working construction... Take me back in time
    via u/TadGhostal1
  • 09
    Long before Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin became household names, there was another Tiger King in town- or "Tiger Man", as they called him. In 2001, Antoine Yates became known as New York City's Tiger Man, when he was found to be keeping a 425- pound tiger in his Harlem apartment.
    via u/TadGhostal1
  • 10
    Mr. Yates was 31 years old and working as a construction worker when he purchased the eight-week-old Siberian- Bengal mix. Inspired by his fascination with Chinese culture, he named the little cub Ming [1]. Ming grew quickly, and through a steady diet of twenty pounds of chicken thighs per day, the little tiger grew to its full-grown weight of 425 pounds in just three years.
    via u/TadGhostal1
  • 11
    Yates built a sandbox in Ming's room, and played games like hide-and-go-seek with items sprayed with cologne, or gave Ming frozen slabs of meat to play with as they thawed. In his words, he did things with the tiger to "stimulate his mind". Yates considered Ming to be his best friend and claims that he had a natural bond with the animal. In his opinion, raising a four hundred pound tiger was no different than raising a monkey or a snake.
    via u/TadGhostal1
  • 12
    synocrat 22 hr. ago You know the landlord is keeping the deposit for all the destroyed blinds at this apartment.
    via u/synocrat
  • 13
    p90rushb 19 hr. ago The lease says up to two cats are allowed!
    via u/p90rushb
  • 14
    shotnthedrk 21 hr. ago Well... the landlord said no dogs over 25 lbs, but cats are ok.
    via u/shotnthedrk
  • 15
    Reasonable-Cell5189 22 hr. ago While dangling like a snack on a rope
    via u/Reasonable-Cell5189
  • 16
    Petorian343 22 hr. ago Wow, NYPD really has seen it all .
    via u/Petorian343
  • 17
    wish1977 22 hr. ago I'm sure no one ever messed with anybody in that apartment.
    via u/wish1977
  • 18
    mdchase1313. 22 hr. ago Who's the poor schmuck who had to clean THAT litter box?
    via u/mdchase1313
  • 19
    oced2001 22 hr. ago My only question was did they walk it, or did it have a litter box?
    via u/oced2001
  • 20
    manolid 22 hr. ago Ming doesn't look happy to see him.
    via u/manolid
  • 21
    KingXeiros 22 hr. ago it, I knew I shoulda called in sick today..."
    via u/KingXeiros
  • 22
    LaBronze-James 20 hr. ago The most unbelievable part of this story isn't Ming, it's that this guy had a 5 bedroom apartment in New York
    via u/LaBronze-James
  • 23
    Ryshin75 22 hr. ago So that's all that banging I've been hearing upstairs.
    via u/Ryshin75

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hilarious nyc secret accident true story tiger lol story roommates funny funny animals animals apartment
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