‘Tiger King’ star Jeff Lowe must surrender cats due to ‘shocking disregard,’ feds say
Jeff Lowe, one of the stars from the Netflix series “Tiger King,” has been ordered by federal officials to give up some of his big cats over accusations of mistreatment.
Lowe and his wife, Lauren Lowe, showed “shocking disregard” for the health of the animals in their possession, Acting Assistant Attorney General Jonathan D. Brightbill of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division said in a statement.
The federal government filed a civil complaint against Lowe in November over “inhumane treatment and improper handling of animals.” In 2016, Jeff Lowe took control of Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park in Oklahoma from Joe “Exotic” Maldonado-Passage.
Evidence from the Greater Wynnewood park and a new park Lowe was building in Oklahoma showed he violated the Endangered Species Act and the Animal Welfare Act, according to the Department of Justice.
“The court found that the Lowes’ failure to provide safe conditions, proper nutrition, and timely veterinary care resulted in harm to a number of animals, including the death of two tiger cubs less than a week apart,” federal officials said in a press release.
The Lowes did not employ a “qualified attending veterinarian,” officials said, leaving their animals in “serious danger.”
As a result of the investigation, Jeff Lowe must surrender all of his cats under the age of one and their mothers. He and his wife were also ordered to not publicly display their animals without a license.
Federal officials outlined some of the alleged abuse in the order, which was filed Friday. Unsanitary conditions included a partially burned carcass of a tiger leading to flies in the park. The flies caused “large patches of painful ulceration on the ears and legs” on “numerous lions, tigers and wolves,” according to court documents.
Due to improper nutrition, one lion that was 10 months old looked like she was only four or five months old, officials said. The lion appeared lethargic and thin and discharged a green liquid from her eyes.
The Lowes are also accused of failing to provide veterinary care for a tiger who had three litters result in stillbirths. She needed surgery in June after her last litter of stillborn cubs, officials said, and died two days later.
Jeff Lowe owned Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park before it closed to the public in August, McClatchy News reported. He was working on opening a new park in Thackerville, Oklahoma, but officials said in November the Lowes do not have a license to exhibit the animals at the new park.
Inspectors also noted alleged violations at the Thackerville park. One tiger cub was euthanized due to metabolic bone disease a week after a December inspection, according to court documents.
A second tiger cub died at 17 weeks old due to metabolic disease, officials said.
“It appeared to the inspectors that the big cats housed at the park were being fed a boneless chicken diet, which alone is insufficient to support bone health and development,” officials said. “According to the inspectors, feeding a boneless meat diet without calcium supplementation can result in nutritional deficiency, disease, malformed bones, gait abnormalities and fractures.”
The Lowes likely “harmed” or “harassed” several animals protected by the Endangered Species Act, officials said.
The couple said they did not violate the Animal Welfare Act, which protects animals that are publicly exhibited, arguing they are not exhibitors because their new zoo was not yet open, according to court documents.
But federal officials say the Lowes were exhibiting the animals by showcasing them on Cameo and OnlyFans — where users can pay for custom video content — and for a Netflix documentary.
This story was originally published January 19, 2021 at 4:20 PM with the headline "‘Tiger King’ star Jeff Lowe must surrender cats due to ‘shocking disregard,’ feds say."