An Australian rebel fighter has been showing off his new pet on social media after buying a tiger cub whilst fighting in Syria . The photo shows a beautiful young tiger cub in the hands of a freelance rebel fighter , known as Ahmed Shaheed . The extravagant purchase will remain with its mother until it is old enough to become Shaheed 's pet . The 28-year-old fighter from Sydney , showed off his new furry investment , posting a picture of the tiger cub on his social media account . His extravagant purchase was met with surprise by one of his fellow fighters , Abou Shaheed al-Muhajir . Unwilling to reveal the cost of his furry investment , the fighter did confirm that he had bought the tiger cub from a small village , near the Syrian city of Aleppo , where he has recently been based . The news comes just a month after the 28-year-old revealed on social media that he was looking to buy an exotic pet to keep him company . Photos of three potential pets were tweeted by Ahmed Shaheed , starting with a sad leopard sitting in a dirty cage . He commented : ' I just made the zoo keeper an offer for this , he said no to start off but the dollar goes a long way . ' The wealthy gunslinger also tweeted a picture of a little owl . Possibly due to its three year life expectancy , the grumpy looking owl did n't seem to particularly interest the rebel . The surprising news comes just a month after the 28-year-old revealed on social media that he was looking to buy an exotic pet to keep him company . A sad leopard sitting in a dirty cage , was the first possible animal that took the fighter 's interest . Shaheed preferred the tiger despite it costing more money . Possibly due to its short life expectancy , the grumpy looking owl did n't seem to particularly interest the rebel . Unwilling to reveal the cost of his furry investment , the fighter only confirmed that he had bought the tiger cub from a small village , near the Syrian city of Aleppo . Keen to get opinions on the owl , Shaheed wrote : 'Or should I buy this one and teach it to send messages . ' However it was the tiger that really appeared to attract the Aussie fighter 's attention . Sitting alone in his den , the beautiful large tiger is pictured sitting proudly in the shade . Unusually it was n't just the tiger cub that seemed to be the big talking point from new photo . A few social media users appear to be more concerned by the fighter 's apparent lack of facial hair in the photo . Despite claiming to have been fighting in Syria for well over a year , the Aussie fighter 's neck and chin area appear to be cleanly shaved . Keen to hide his identity , the former Bond university student posted an obscured photo of himself stroking a four month old lion . The fighter recently showed off his war booty of $ 525 and a Kalashnikov rifle , possibly explaining how he managed to pay for the tiger cub . One user cheekily wrote on Shaheed 's Ask.Fm page : 'Is that u holding the tiger ? Cause the beard should be longer to appear for someone who been there more than year and a half lol ' With his ego bruised , the 28-year-old militant swiftly replied back , insisting he was looking up at the sky for any potential incoming fire from jets . ' I 'm looking up at the sky in that pic thought i heard a jet . Is this advice on my beard coming from someone still chilling in darul kufr ( land of the disbelievers ) while jihad is fard ayn ( obligatory ) ? ' Shaheed is not the first fighter to purchase a pet tiger . Deputy commander of rebel group Jaish al-Mujahideen wal-Ansar , Abdul Karim Krymsky , was pictured holding a young tiger last month . Shaheed is not the first fighter to show off a pet tiger , colossal Chechen fighter Abdul Karim Krymsky posed with another tiger . Ahmed Shaheed is believed to be a former Bond University student , who reportedly left his home in Sydney and traveled to Syria to join the Al Qaeda affiliated group Jabhat al-Nusra . According to his Ask.Fm page , Ahmed became disillusioned with Jabhat al-Nusra and left the group . When asked who he is fighting for now , he wrote he was 'doing my own thing . ' It is possible that Ahmed Shaheed has joined another rebel group in the Aleppo Liberation , based around the broken city of Aleppo . Asked why he chose not to join ISIS , Shaheed was clear : 'Dawla ( ISIS ) seems to be only involved in the infighting in Sham ( Syria ) and restricted to a few cities in sham . I want to travel the whole of syria fighting Bashar ( al-Assad ) and his allies , staying away from any group involved in infighting . ' Shaheed posted a picture of his fellow fighter , Abu Baraa , in Doureen , near the Alawite dominated port city of Latakia . Keen to document his travels whilst fighting around Syria , Ahmed posted a picture of a well preserved Roman ruins in Hama province .
The photo shows a beautiful young tiger cub in the hands of a rebel fighter , known as Abu Baraa . Shaheed is believed to be a former Bond university student from Sydney . The 27-year-old considered buying an little owl and a leopard from a zoo near Aleppo , Syria .