Tiger Siblings Are So Close They Can't Sleep Without Each Other

<p>In-Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue/Renee Brown<span></span></p>

In February 2013, Texas' In-Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue rescued 10 tigers from a wildlife facility that had decided to get rid of its carnivores - and the state they were in was shocking.

Once of the underweight rescued tigers | Vimeo/Outside Adventure Media

"Some of them were 200 pounds underweight and some of them were completely bald," Vicky Keahey, In-Sync's founder, told The Dodo.

"But we took them in and started them on medication. We had to feed them three times a day because they were that hungry," she said.

It wasn't until five months into their stay at the sanctuary that 10 rescued tigers even began to look like tigers.

Two tigers during the transport | Vimeo/Outside Adventure Media

Of the 10 tigers saved, the three youngest ones - Pepsi, Athena and Ukaidi - were grouped together and became known as "The Kids" at the rescue.

The three "kids" | In-Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue/Keri Ostermann

Their mother, Cypress, along with their siblings, Jafar and Cincinnati, were saved and brought to In-Sync as well.

Cypress and Jafar | In-Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue
In-Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue/Renee Brown

While the kids, who are all 5 years old, are still wary of humans - as they should be - they're an extremely tight-knit group of siblings who are usually piled together in some shape or form within their shared enclosure.

In-Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue/Lark Demler

"They always fight together, spoon together, they eat together, play in the pool and bathe together," Keahey said.

The kids in a tiger snuggle pile of limbs | In-Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue/Lark Demler
In-Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue/Renee Brown

Dashing good looks run in the family, which makes it easy for them to simply meld together, but each of the kids has a distinct personality.

In-Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue/Karin Saucedo

Pepsi, who is the sole male of the trio, is by far the calmest, Keahey said.

Pepsi | In-Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue/Karin Saucedo

He also gets "whooped" by his sisters, who are divas in their own right.

Pepsi and Athena snuggling | In-Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue/Karin Saucedo

"Athena is a troublemaker," Keahey said.

Athena | In-Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue/Renee Brown

"She likes to instigate everything, everything belongs to her and nobody else can have it," she continued.

Athena refusing to let go | In-Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue/Renee Brown

Then there's Ukaidi.

Ukaidi | In-Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue/Karin Saucedo

During the initial transport, Keahey said, nine tigers got into their transport cages without putting up any fuss. Ukaidi was the only one who had to be tranquilized. That's how she got her name, which means "stubborn" in Swahili.

Ukaidi and Pepsi | In-Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue/Amber Innes; Susan Adams

Despite their closeness, according to Keahey, the trio does occasionally get into cases of sibling rivalry, but very much like humans, it's expected.

After all, no group of siblings is perfect.

Pepsi and Athena sharing a pumpkin | In-Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue/Karin Saucedo

But all of them are thriving at long last.

In-Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue/Lark Demler

Watch this video about Lambert, a lion at In-Sync who's been obsessed with blankets ever since he was a baby:

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