TAMPA, Fla. — The Oklahoma zoo at the center of the Netflix documentary Tiger King is on the verge of changing hands via court order.
According to a court order, a federal judge has granted Carole Baskin and her animal sanctuary, Big Cat Rescue, control of the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park (G.W. Zoo) — the zoo formerly owned by Joe Exotic.
The federal judge gave the current owner and operator Jeff Lowe to vacate the zoo with all of his animals within 120 days.
The ruling found that the property was fraudulently transferred to Joe Exotic's mother years ago.
Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, is G.W. Zoo's former founder and is currently in prison for putting together a murder-for-hire plot to kill Baskin. Lowe and his wife Lauren took full control of the controversial Oklahoma zoo as Exotic faced legal troubles.
The Netflix documentary series — which prominently featured Exotic, Lowe and Baskin, became a cultural touchstone when it debuted on Netflix earlier this year. The seven-part series was the number-one streaming program on the platform in March 2020.
Read the full court order here.
This story was originally published by WFTS in Tampa, Florida.
