Look, I didn’t watch even a minute of Tiger King. Come at me. I can’t handle anything involving animals. But that makes what I just learned good news!
The zoo formerly owned by Joe Exotic has been closed to the public for good, current owner Jeff Lowe announced Tuesday via social media.
In several aggressive Facebook posts on the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park’s profile, Lowe said that the documentary has earned them an “unfathomable source of income” that will ensure the long-term care of the animals.
“As of today, we have decided to close the old zoo effective immediately,” one post read. “[Due to] the permanent closure of the Wynnewood Zoo, I’m forfeiting my USDA exhibitors license.”
Lowe, 67, who was prominently featured in the Netflix series, assured his followers that this was a “voluntary forfeiture” — despite a probe for alleged animal neglect — and that he made this decision “more than a month ago.”
However, in June, big cat rival Carole Baskin was legally awarded control of the famed Oklahoma zoo. Lowe was given 120 days to leave the property and remove the animals.
Exotic, 57, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, is currently serving a 22-year sentence in prison after he hired a hitman to kill Baskin, 59. The “Here Kitty Kitty” singer had also fraudulently transferred ownership of his animal kingdom to his mother in 2011 to “avoid his creditors,” said Baskin’s Big Cat Rescue Corp in their complaint.
On Facebook, Lowe alleged that the USDA “has now folded to the pressures of PETA and continue[s] to make false accusations against me.”
“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,” he wrote, referring to the new zoo he was building in Thackerville, Oklahoma.