Ming of Harlem

In April 2000, Antoine Yates, a 31-year-old part-time taxicab driver and resident of Harlem, New York City, purchased Ming, an 8-week-old male Siberian–Bengal tiger hybrid, from the BEARCAT Hollow Animal Park in Racine, Minnesota. Yates lived with the animals in Apartment 5E of the Drew-Hamilton Houses, a public housing complex. For five years, Yates left the apartment only once a day for an hour to purchase food. == Discovery ==

Ming's existence became known and reported in the media after Yates was taken to the Harlem Hospital Center emergency room on September 30, 2003 with bites on the arm and leg. At the time of treatment, Yates claimed that his pet pit bull had bitten him; however, the medical personnel were suspicious, because the width of the bite marks suggested an animal with a much larger jaw. Later, Yates said he had been bitten while trying to keep Ming away from Shadow, a cat he had recently adopted. That day was the first time Ming had met Shadow. According to Yates, after Ming began chasing Shadow, Yates jumped in front of Ming, who bit and clawed Yates multiple times as he wrestled with the tiger. After Ming finally closed his jaws on Yates's knee, Yates recalled "That had me going through flashes of life. I was like, 'Oh my god, guess this is where I die at. The downstairs neighbor was aware that Yates owned many animals, in contradiction to Housing Authority rules, and her daughter had once seen Ming. The neighbor added it was not a problem until the summer of 2003, when she opened her windows for the first time that year and found her windowsills soaked with urine accompanied by a heavy animal odor. In addition, Yates had had roommates, who were unaware at first of the animals in the home. According to the New York Daily News: == Aftermath ==

Legal actions Yates was arrested on charges of reckless endangerment and the possession of a wild animal. Later, his mother was charged with endangering the welfare of a child, since she had been babysitting children in the apartment. As part of a plea agreement to reduce charges against his mother, Yates pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment, and eventually served a five-month prison term with five years' probation. He was released after serving three months, and subsequently he sued New York City for the loss of his pets (including a rabbit) and for cash, which he claimed had also been in the apartment. A judge dismissed the case, calling him full of "chutzpah". According to Yates, the suit was dismissed because it would have revealed the New York City Housing Authority had not been conducting required quarterly inspections of the apartment, as records had stated. For approximately a decade, human visitors were barred from visiting Ming in Ohio, but the sanctuary later changed their policy in the interest of enrichment. Ming lived in Ohio until he died on February 4, 2019, of kidney and heart failure. His remains were cremated and interred at Hartsdale Pet Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York on April 20. According to the director of Noah's Lost Ark, "[Ming] lived a really good life here. He was able to run and play on the grounds. He had tiger friends. He had a swimming pool. He was able to experience the elements." Yates' life after the incident Around 2010, Yates stated he lived in Pahrump, Nevada near Las Vegas with 22 big cats, including four tigers, having redubbed himself "Antoine Tigermann Yates". A 2018 article in the New York Post cast doubt on Yates's veracity, noting that a licensed tiger owner in Pahrump stated that Yates had never lived in Nevada. A 2020 interview with Yates stated that he was living in Philadelphia with his mother and "a more humble collection of snakes, lizards, turtles, tortoises and chinchillas". He was dismissive of the people documented in the Netflix mini-series Tiger King, calling them "ignorant ... so-called exotic animal lovers." ==In media==

In October 2010, the story of Yates and Ming was dramatized on the Animal Planet show Fatal Attractions. The episode was titled "A Tiger Loose in Harlem". A mix of re-creation and documented footage was used, complete with commentary by Yates, his family and police. A photo of Ming was used by New York City rap group Armand Hammer for the cover of their 2020 album Shrines. ==References==