DOJ seizes 68 big cats from Tiger King Park

The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Thursday that it had seized 68 lions, tigers and other big cats from Tiger King Park in Oklahoma as part of a federal complaint over the animals’ treatment. 

The DOJ announced in a press release the seizure of the cats at the Thackerville park, owned by Jeffrey and Lauren Lowe, who have received citations for ongoing alleged violations of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). 

The search and seizure had been authorized as part of a court-approved agreement to resolve a DOJ complaint filed against the couple in November that accused them of violating the ESA by illegally taking, possessing, and transporting protected animals, as well as violating the Animal Welfare Act by “exhibiting animals without a license to the public and placing the animals’ health in serious danger.”

The complaint added that the “animals have suffered from and continue to suffer from easily preventable or treatable conditions, which in some cases has caused the untimely death of animals,” adding that the couple “have then burned or otherwise disposed of the carcasses, including tigers, in makeshift pyres.” 

According to the DOJ, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has conducted three inspections of Tiger King Park since December 2020, during which “the Lowes received citations for failing to provide the animals with adequate or timely veterinary care, appropriate nutrition, and shelter that protects them from inclement weather and is of sufficient size to allow them to engage in normal behavior.” 

The Lowes last week were also found in contempt for noncompliance with court orders requiring that they “employ a qualified veterinarian and establish and maintain a program of veterinary care that meets the requirements of the Animal Welfare Act,” the DOJ said in the press release. 

Daniel Card, an attorney for the couple, told a federal judge last week that the Lowes “want out completely.”

“They don’t want to fight this anymore. They don’t want to do it,” Card said, according to The Associated Press. 

In the Thursday statement, acting Assistant Attorney General Jean E. Williams of the DOJ’s Environment and Natural Resources Division said the seizure of nearly 70 animals “should send a clear message that the Justice Department takes alleged harm to captive-bred animals protected under the Endangered Species Act very seriously.” 

Nicholas L. McQuaid, acting assistant attorney general for the DOJ’s Criminal Division, said in a statement along with Thursday’s announcement, “We are proud to have partnered with the Environment and Natural Resources Division to protect these amazing animals, and will work to ensure that they go to responsible animal preserves where they can be safely maintained rather than exploited.”

The federal complaint said that the couple established the 33-acre park in Thackerville after they closed one in Wynnewood, Okla., in August following a license suspension from the USDA. 

The Wynnewood park was featured in the hit Netflix series “Tiger King,” as was its former co-owner Joseph Maldonado-Passage, better known as “Joe Exotic,” who is currently serving a 22-year sentence in federal prison after being charged with participation in a murder-for-hire plot and violations of federal wildlife laws.

Maldonado-Passage earlier this week appealed for a pardon from President Biden after several similar appeals to then-President Trump were unsuccessful.