‘Tiger King’ Zoo Permanently Closed; Jeff Lowe Says New Park Will Be Private Set For TV Content

Tom Grater
·2 min read

The Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park, as seen in Netflix’s hit doc series Tiger King, has closed its doors for good.

Current owner Jeff Lowe confirmed the news in a Facebook post, saying that he was voluntarily forfeiting his USDA exhibitors license. Back in May, a federal judge in Oklahoma granted ownership of the park to rival operator Carole Baskin after ruling that previous owner Joe Exotic, now serving a 22-year prison term for crimes including a plot to kill Baskin, had fraudulently transferred ownership prior to Lowe taking over.

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In the post, Lowe claimed the USDA had “folded to the pressures of [animal rights group] PETA” and were making “false accusations” against him.

The location had been closed due to the COVID crisis but re-opened in May to visitors; it is now permanently closed. Lowe said his new park in Thackerville, Oklahoma will “be a private film set for Tiger King related television content for cable and streaming services”.

Lowe added the Tiger King series had brought him “more attention than any human deserves, good and bad” but had also provided an “unfathomable source of income…that will guarantee the long term care of our animals”.

Responding to the news in her own Facebook post, Baskin said that she was waiting to find out what would happen to Lowe’s animals that were in the Greater Wynnewood facility.

Tiger King was a smash for Netflix, drawing 34 million viewers in its first 10 days on the platform. The show is now up for six Emmys including Outstanding Documentary Series. The streamer has reportedly locked further episodes of the series, while there are spin-offs in the works with Kate McKinnon, Rob Lowe, and Nicolas Cage.

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