Rapper Tyga May Face Criminal Charges for Illegally Keeping a Bengal Tiger as Pet

Tyga, the Grammy-nominated rapper might face criminal charges for illegally keeping  a seven-month old Bengal tiger as a pet at his Southern California mansion. 

An anonymous neighbor tipped off  the California Department of Fish and Wildlife officials that rapper Tyga owned a Bengal tiger as a pet at his Ventura County home. On April 19 the wildlife officials conducted a search at the rapper's property in response to the complaint. But the officials found no sign of the exotic animal.  Tyga later informed them that he had left the  tiger at a private animal shelter in Venture County earlier the same day, reports Nature World News.

But the shelter where the tiger was kept was for common house pets like dogs and cats and had no facilities to house a 100-pound dangerous feline, reports NBC Los Angeles reports. The tiger was soon seized by the state officials and was moved to a secure undisclosed location. The animal was reported to be in good health.

"The important thing to us is the health and safety of the animal and it's safe and sound for now," California Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesman Andrew Hughan told Los Angeles-area news station KTLA.

It is unclear on how long the tiger was kept as a pet cat. But Michael Ray Nguyen-Stevenson now famously known as rapper Tyga has been actively posting pictures on Instagram of his illegal pet since March.

The rapper faces a fine and also six months of imprisonment for misdemeanor possession of a prohibited species. The Fish and Game Code forbids keeping dangerous animals like tigers as pets.

TMZ reported that sources close to the celebrity said that Tyga took good care of the tiger and was not aware of the fact that it is illegal to own a tiger as a pet.