MONITOR TWP., MI -- When deputies responded to a late-night semitrailer crash on Interstate 75, they had heard the rig was hauling animals. What they didn't know until their arrival, though, was the nature of the truck's precious (and endangered) cargo -- several Bengal tigers.

About 11:50 p.m. on Monday, May 14, Bay County Sheriff's deputies responded to the crash site on southbound I-75 at the Wilder Road connector in Monitor Township. Due to rain and weather conditions, a semitrailer had hydroplaned and its driver lost control of the rig, causing it to leave the roadway, enter a grassy median, and jackknife, said Sheriff Troy R. Cunningham.

While en route, deputies learned the truck was hauling animals, but not what kinds, the sheriff said.

When deputies arrived, they found the truck was hauling eight Bengal tigers, each weighing about 600 pounds. The tigers are owned by a circus company and the driver was transporting them to New York, Cunningham said, though it was unclear where they had been heading from.

Two of the eight Bengal tigers being hauled by a semitrailer that was involved in a crash on Interstate 75 in Bay County on May 14, 2018.

Both the driver and the tigers were uninjured.

No tigers escaped in the crash.

Deputies had to shut down one lane of a connecting ramp for a couple hours to clean up the mess. The tigers were held overnight at an area towing company, Cunningham said.

Native to India, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and China, Bengals are the most numerous of all tiger subspecies. However, they're considered endangered due to habitat loss, poaching, and the illegal pet trade contributing to their dwindling numbers. Estimates place their wild population at an estimated 2,500, according to the World Wildlife Fund.