Oklahoma 'Tiger King' zoo closes permanently, owner Jeff Lowe blames 'PETA spies' as USDA suspends his license
The exotic zoo made famous by Netflix's 'Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness' will stay permanently closed because of the "pressures of" animal rights organization PETA, its current owner has announced. The Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, was the subject of national and international headlines after the 2020 true-crime docuseries shone a light on the small but deeply interconnected society of big cat conservationists in the US.
The series' primary protagonists, or antagonists depending on who you ask, Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin, were portrayed being in an eternal tug of war after the latter accused Exotic of abusing and exploiting his animals. She eventually came out on top, with Exotic being sentenced to 22 years in prison for his involvement in a murder-for-hire plot and animal abuse. He was then ordered by a federal judge to hand over his zoo to Baskin as part of a ruling in a $1 million trademark dispute.
That ruling in June meant the current operator, Exotic's former business partner Jeff Lowe, had to be out within 120 days. In a lengthy Facebook post, he announced the closure of the zoo and blamed the decision on PETA. He also said he was forfeiting his United States Department of Agriculture exhibitor's license which allowed him to buy and sell animals, hinting that he was pressured to do so, but assured all fans and followers that the animals at Wynnewood would have a new and caring home.
"As of today, we have decided to close the old zoo effective immediately," he wrote. "Do the permanent closure of the Wynnewood Zoo, I’m forfeiting my USDA exhibitors license. The very agency that has given my facility five consecutive perfect inspections, has now folded to the pressures of PETA and continue to make false accusations against me. Suspiciously, less than 24 hours after I contacted the USDA to voluntarily forfeit my license, they notify me that they are suspending my license for 21 days for a litany of falsehoods."
Lowe also said the "Tiger King phenomenon" had changed the lives of everyone at the zoo and brought them attention unlike anything they've seen in the past but acknowledged it had its positives as well. "It has brought us more attention than any human deserves, good and bad," he wrote. "It has, and probably will continue to make us a target of every nutjob and animal rights loon in the world, but we are prepared. It has also provided us with an unfathomable source of income. Income that will guarantee the long term care of our animals and allow us to be very selective going forward."
If reports are to be believed, Netflix has secured the rights for a second season of the docuseries already while spin-offs from other networks are on the way as well, including an eight-part scripted series from Imagine Television Studios and CBS starring Nicolas Cage as Exotic.
Lowe hinted that he would still be involved in some capacity with some of these series. "Rest assured that all the animals will continue to have excellent care, and consequently will no longer be subject to USDA inspections or PETA spies," he wrote. "Our new park will, at least for the foreseeable future, be a private film set for Tiger King related television content for cable and streaming services."