National Geographic Kids Chapters: Tiger in Trouble!: and More True Stories of Amazing Animal Rescues. Kelly Halls Milner

to take a nap. The vet had a special dart gun to shoot medicine into the tigers. If the darts hit just right, Nitro and Apache would be fast asleep in no time. They would sleep while the team moved them. Then they would wake up safe and sound inside their travel crates. The vet knew just the right amount of medicine to use.

      POP. POP. The vet pulled the trigger, and the darts hit their targets.

      Nitro hissed quietly when the dart hit his shoulder. His ears fell flat against his head. He was afraid. Then he felt the medicine start to work. He settled down. His stomach was flat on the dusty earth. His breathing slowed down. He fell into a deep and peaceful sleep.

      Quickly, Kathryn cut a large hole in the chain-link fence. She and the others climbed through the hole into the cage. Gently, they loaded Nitro into a large travel crate. It looked like a crate for a very large dog.

      Nitro woke a short time later. He was safely loaded into the Carolina Tiger Rescue truck. Kathryn drove east, out of Kansas. Nitro was slightly confused, but not afraid.

      “It depends on the animal,” Kathryn said. “But these guys were fine. When you get on the road, they tend to settle down, like kids. The movement of the truck relaxes them.”

      Every two hours, Nitro saw his new caretakers. They stopped to check on him and give him food or water. Twenty-six hours later, Nitro was at the rescue. But it would still be another month before he could move into his forever home.

      The concrete cells where Nitro and Apache first stayed weren’t very comfortable. The hard surface felt strange against Nitro’s paws. But the cells were clean and safe.

      The people at the rescue needed to keep Nitro and Apache separated. They could not be near the other cats for 30 days. During that time, the tigers would get a full medical checkup by the veterinarians.

      If they had any diseases, the vets could find out before they passed it on to other tigers. They would also check Nitro and Apache for injuries and give them medicine if they needed it. Only after that could the tigers be around other animals.

      The veterinarian put Nitro to sleep again. This time, it was a much deeper sleep because the vet had a lot to do. Nitro needed his teeth cleaned. He had to get shots. And he needed to have a tiny microchip placed just under his skin. Then he could be tracked and returned to Carolina Tiger Rescue if he was ever lost or stolen.