The animal park made famous — or infamous — by a well-timed Netflix documentary series is reaping the benefits of the show’s popularity, available as it is while many Americans are a captive audience amid the covid-19 pandemic.
But the attraction featured in “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness” — under new ownership with the show’s star, Joseph Maldonado-Passage, or Joe Exotic, serving a 22-year prison sentence — is drawing even more criticism than it did before it closed as part of Oklahoma’s response to the coronavirus.
Animal rights advocates have long been critical of operations such as that of Maldonado-Passage. He’s in prison for killing five tigers, illegally selling animals across state lines and plotting to kill one of his biggest critics, activist Carole Baskin. According to the Daily Mail, head zookeeper Erik Cowie alleges Maldonado-Passage killed more than 100 tigers while he owned the property.
Reports from the zoo’s reopening last weekend aren’t rosy, either.
Hundreds flock to Joe Exotic's infamous zoo for its reopening, as it finally cashes in on Netflix fame https://t.co/61ydn1Lig2
— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) May 6, 2020
The Daily Mail published pictures of crowds, few among them following CDC-recommended safety protocols or wearing masks, huddling together to get a look at the big cats.
A particularly scathing report by National Geographic points out it’s not only human health being put in jeopardy. Tigers, too, are susceptible to covid-19, evidenced by five tigers and four lions at the Bronx Zoo testing positive for the disease in April.
Allowing cub petting with large crowds to resume is raising new alarm bells because tigers are also susceptible to COVID-19 https://t.co/R99GaVxZE7
— National Geographic (@NatGeo) May 7, 2020
The report features comments from a weekend visitor who says she was charged $60 for six minutes of private time with two baby tigers that became apprehensive after entertaining patrons for hours on end. After the story was published, National Geographic said, the facility’s owner, Jeff Lowe, contacted the publication to say, “We aren’t doing cub encounters at this time,” without saying when they stopped.
