Why did ‘Tiger King’ Joe Exotic go to jail?
TIGER King star Joe Exotic became an name on every ones lips after he featured in the famous Netflix documentary about his life.
But fans were shocked to hear that the 58-year-old former zoo owner is currently serving a VERY lengthy sentence.
Who is Joe Exotic?
Exotic, the self-proclaimed 'Tiger King', is a zookeeper and roadshow entertainer who formerly owned the in Oklahoma.
The Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness series, released earlier this year, follows Exotic's whirlwind of layered drama from his allegations of animal abuse to his plot to murder his rival, fellow big cat-obsessed Carole Baskin.
The seven-part series drew in in just 10 days and Exotic has since become a global phenomenon. It has been labeled as one of Netflix's most popular and successful series of all time.
In 2021 he also featured in Louis Theroux documentary, Shooting Joe Exotic.
What was Joe Exotic arrested for?
, was arrested on September 7, 2018, for conspiring to murder his nemesis, 58-year-old Big Cat Rescue owner Carole Baskin, as well as for accusations of illegally killing endangered tigers at his park to make room for new exotic animals.
He and Baskin's decades-long feud came to a head in 2017 when Exotic attempted to pay a man named Allen Glover $3,000 to kill her.
Baskin, a vocal critic against Exotic's park and animal keeping practices, had secured a million-dollar settlement against the Tiger King after he lost a . Since the rivalry began, Baskin claims Exotic's threats against her life were "constant" and that as a result, she saw "every bystander as a potential threat."
"There is no where that I have felt safe, and worse, no way that I feel I can safeguard those around me,"
"So many of his threats involved blowing me up, so that he could thrill over seeing me burn to death."
Baskin wasn't the only one threatened by Exotic's irrationality—his tigers also came in the firing line.
Erik Cowie, the head zookeeper at the GW Exotic Animal Park in Oklahoma, claimed Exotic put down hundreds of tigers over his time as owner of the Greater Wynnewood park.
"They euthanized them and had a veterinarian sign off on them with excuses like, they were too old, sick, etc" he told the
"Most of the time a veterinarian wasn't even around when things like that would happen, but he would write it down on a log, so he could be covered in case government inspectors wanted to check his books."
MORE ON JOE EXOTIC
How many years was he sentenced to?
The courts found Exotic guilty of two counts of murder-for-hire, eight counts of violating the Lacey Act for tampering and falsifying wildlife records, and nine counts of violating the Endangered Species Act for killing tigers.
Exotic was sentenced to 22 years behind bars.