Court orders 'Tiger King' zoo to be surrendered, but its animals remain in limbo

The fraudulently held zoo must be transferred to Carole Baskin's Big Cat Rescue within 120 days. It's unclear what will happen to the 200 animals on the property.

A federal judge has ordered that Joe Exotic’s former Greater Wynnewood Zoo (G.W. Zoo)—a notorious roadside attraction in Oklahoma made famous by the Netflix series Tiger King—be relinquished to Carole Baskin’s Big Cat Rescue to settle a legal dispute between the animal parks.

Jeff Lowe, the current owner of G.W. Zoo, must vacate the 54-acre property within 120 days, under the order by Judge Scott L. Palk, United States District Judge for the Western District of Oklahoma. But the judgment doesn’t apply to the roughly 200 animals in the facility, more than half of them tigers and other big cats. Under state and federal law, the animals are considered Lowe’s property and don’t convey.

G.W. Zoo is not a member of the

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