Shir-Khan, a male tiger and member of the ‘streak’ of six, popularly known as, the the “Starlight Tigers”, glamorous name masking a sad reality. Shir-Khan and the other five, Khan, Radja, Douglas, Prinz, and Pascha were born into German circus companies. 

They were subsequently bought by a small travelling family circus called Starlight Circus. When embarking on the frequent journeys to the next venue, they were confined in a one-beast wagon, approximately 20m² and 25m² in size. He had to endure an extremely confined space with no room to move, run, play, explore, or swim. In Addition to being deprived of species-appropriate life, he was also forced into an unnatural social structure of a tiger, a false streak. 

Sadly, the story of Shir-Khan is just one of many that describe the “normal” life of a circus environment: keeping wild animals for human amusement at the expense of their welfare. Shir-Khan finally found a safe home, free from abuse and appropriate for his species when FOUR PAWS, along with the Veterinary Authority convinced the owner to hand over the six animals to LIONSROCK Big Cat Sanctuary in November 2013.