Carole Baskin has nabbed the biggest prize of all – she now has control of rival Joe Exotic’s zoo after a judge found the documents he used to transfer it to business partner Jeff Lowe were fraudulent.
The land had been part of an agreement to make good on a R17million judgment that Exotic had been ordered to pay as part of copyright infringement against Baskin. Lowe now has just 120 days to vacate the property along with all the exotic animals.
Exotic was the central character in a docuseries titled Tiger King: Murder, Madness and Mayhem – it was a massive success after it launched on March 20 this year becoming one of the most-watched Netflix series of all time. It unwittingly made a star out of many of the lead characters whose insanely eccentric lifestyles had viewers glued to their seats episode after episode.
It was indeed hard to believe that what one was watching was not fiction. The series focuses on the bitter rivalry between Big Cat Rescue owner Carol Baskin and Joe Exotic,the 'Tiger King'. Exotic owned a zoo full of big cats as well as many other exotic animals. He was also known as one of the most prolific breeders of big cats in America.
The bizarre goings-on, the breeding, and rumours of animal abuse at the zoo came to Baskin’s attention – this laid the ground for what was to become a bitter life and death rivalry between the two of them. It all came to a head when Exotic was arrested and sentenced to 22 years in prison for an alleged plot to kill Baskin, as well as for some serious wildlife violations.
Many found the simpering Baskin to be as dubious a character as Exotic - rumours that Baskin could have killed her missing second husband Don Lewis who disappeared without a trace in 1997 are still rife. This theory was perpetuated by Exotic in the series with him often alleging on public platforms that Baskin had killed her husband and fed his body to one of the big cats on her sanctuary.
Baskin’s current husband, Howard Baskin, took to Facebook to share the good news of their victory over Exotic saying in an official statement :
“On June 1, 2020, the federal court in Oklahoma issued a judgment against an entity controlled by Jeff Lowe based in part on what the judge described as “willfully failed to comply” with one previous court order and “other failures to obey or respond to the Court’s orders in this case.” The ruling requires the entity to vacate the property within 120 days of service of the judgment, including removing the animals. In an Agreed Judgment in August 2019 Shirley Schreibvogel acknowledged her role in multiple fraudulent transfers some of which involved the entity controlled by Mr Lowe.
Over a year ago Mr Lowe announced plans to move the animals to a location in Thackerville, OK that he has been constructing and he claims will be a better facility. He recently stated that he had funds to complete the zoo and a contractor who could complete it in a few months.
If the need arises to make other plans to place the animals in new homes, Big Cat Rescue and the animal welfare organizations that have previously successfully placed big cats from large facilities in new homes stand ready to assist.
Below are full copies of the court documents which speak for themselves. We are not posting any further comments at this time.”
Oklahoma Judgments On June 1, 2020 the federal court in Oklahoma issued a judgment against an entity controlled by Jeff...
Posted by Big Cat Rescue on Tuesday, June 2, 2020
According to the Daily Mail Lowe is not too bothered about having to vacate the zoo as it was not making any money and he and his wife Lauren have already opened a new park also in Oklahoma.
Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that Nicolas Cage will be playing the role of Joe Exotic in an all-new eight-part series about the former eccentric Oklahoma zookeeper.
In contrast to the docuseries, this will be a scripted series based on an article by Leif Reigstad, Joe Exotic: A Dark Journey Into the World of a Man Gone Wild. It is a lengthy and extremely well-researched article that chronicles the life of this larger than life character who came to refer to himself as the 'Tiger King'. It also details many conversations that Reigstad had with Joe himself and all the main role players in the bizarre charade that was his life.
