PETA has “confiscated” three one-year-old lions from Jeff Lowe’s “Tiger King” zoo, which was recently closed. The Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park (G.W. Park) ended up in Lowe’s hands following Joe Exotic’s arrest for hiring a hitman to kill Carole Basin.
Yeah, it’s all bananas. Check out “Tiger King” on Netflix if none of those words check out in your rational brain.
The lion confiscation comes as part of PETA’s successful Endangered Species Act lawsuit against Lowe’s former business partner Tim Stark, who transferred the lions to Lowe, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said in a media announcement.
A court order granting the confiscation was issued on September 15.
A fourth lion had been transferred from Stark to Lowe, the group says, “but PETA recently learned that she died under suspicious circumstances, allegedly in August,” it continued. “The group is investigating her death.”
“PETA is now setting its sights on the G.W. Park and has sent Lowe and several of his associates a notice of intent (NOI) to sue,” the press release reads.
Lowe did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment on this story.
“PETA alleges that the G.W. Park and its operators have violated the ESA in numerous ways This includes by prematurely separating big-cat cubs from their mothers and forcing them to interact with members of the public as well as denying ring-tailed lemurs, big cats, and a grizzly bear proper nutrition and species-appropriate enrichment,” the group said. “The grizzly and the big cats were also denied adequate veterinary care, as alleged by PETA. PETA’s lawsuit will ask the court to stop Lowe from continuing to harm or harass protected animals both at the G.W. Park in Wynnewood and at a planned facility in Thackerville, as alleged in the NOI.”
The three lions will be transferred to the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Colorado.
“PETA wants to end the G.W. Park’s years of tormenting animals,” says PETA Foundation Deputy General Counsel for Captive Animal Law Enforcement Brittany Peet. “Avoiding this lawsuit is as simple as letting PETA find new homes for these animals at reputable sanctuaries–and agreeing never to own, exhibit, or have any other contact with ESA-protected animals again.”
“One of them is Nala, who was so ill in June that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) halted an inspection and ordered Lowe to provide her with immediate veterinary care,” the PETA release reads. “Afterward, the USDA suspended Lowe’s federal Animal Welfare Act license and began proceedings to revoke it permanently.”
A PETA spokesperson sent a video of Nala to TheWrap. “Notice she can barely walk,” the rep said in an email accompanying the brand-new footage.
Watch the video above.