The Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park, made famous in Netflix‘s Tiger King documentary series on Joe Exotic, will be closed to the public effective immediately. Current Zoo owner Jeff Lowe confirmed the closure in a Facebook post, citing pressure from animal rights activists and federal inspectors as the reason for his decision.
In March 2020, Netflix released an eight-part documentary series about the life of big cat owner Joseph “Joe Exotic” Allen Maldonado-Passage titled Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness. The documentary series quickly became one of Netflix’s most successful releases to date, garnering an estimated 31.2 million viewers people within its first 10 days on the streaming service. Lowe assumed ownership of the zoo at the center of the documentary after Joe Exotic was sentenced to 22 years in prison for a murder-for-hire against big cat rescue activist Carole Baskin and multiple animal abuse violations.
According to Lowe, the U.S. Department of Agriculture suspended the exhibitor’s license for 21 days less than 24 hours after he contacted the federal department to forfeit it voluntarily. “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,” Lowe said in the post announcing the zoo’s closure. The decision to close the zoo comes just two months after an Oklahoma City federal judge granted ownership of the park to the Baskins and ordered Lowe to vacate the premise within 120 days and remove all animals from the property.
Lowe assured readers the animals on the location would “continue to have excellent care” and that the zoo will now become a private film studio for Tiger King television content for cable and streaming services. “The Tiger King phenomenon has definitely changed our lives in many ways. It has brought us more attention than any human deserves, good and bad. 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,” Lowe said of the impact of Netflix’s Tiger King.
While Netflix’s Tiger King was undoubtedly a success for the streaming service, even many of those who watched all eight episodes of the series and the special that followed have negative feelings towards individuals featured in the documentary. Regardless of how people feel towards Joe Exotic, Tiger King has spawned multiple projects hoping to capitalize on the success of the Netflix series. Among the most notable of these projects is a drama series featuring Nicolas Cage in the role of Joe Exotic.
Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness is now available on Netflix.
Source: Wynnewood Zoo
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