Carole Baskin, the proprietor of Big Cat Rescue, will take control of the zoo once owned by her Tiger King co-star, Joe Exotic. The news is the latest chapter in the ongoing feud between Baskin and Exotic.
In 2016, Baskin and Big Cat Rescue sued Joe Exotic’s mother, Shirley Schreibvogel. BCR alleged that Exotic had transferred his zoo to her fraudulently to paying Baskin under a $1 million trademark judgement.
US District Judge Scott L. Palk ruled in favour of Big Cat Rescue today.
Baskin will take control of the site on which the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park was built. The 16-acre property is located in Garvin County, Oklahoma, roughly 100km from Oklahoma City.
As part of the settlement, Baskin will also receive several cabins and vehicles located on the property.
Baskin, Exotic and their ongoing feud attracted worldwide attention earlier this year when the documentary series Tiger King hit Netflix.
Exotic – real name Joseph Maldonado-Passage – is currently serving a 22-year prison sentence for attempting to hire a hitman to kill Baskin.
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Earlier this year, Exotic filed a $93 million dollar lawsuit from behind bars. Exotic claims that federal agencies and former associate, Jeff Lowe, are conspiring to take his animals away from him.
“[Lowe] was the main person in this entrapment scheme to take my zoo for free,” Exotic wrote in his March 18th filing.
Exotic also claims that Lowe “changed my medicine with illegal drugs, stole my animals under fraudulent reasons. Destroyed my house with all my personal property in it.”
Exotic’s former park is currently under Lowe’s control. Courthouse News reports that Lowe has 120 days to vacate the premises before Baskin moves in.
“We anticipated Carole Baskin getting the title to the former park that once belonged to Joe Exotic, and we did not challenge her attempts to do so,” a legal representative for Jeff Lowe told CNN.
Check out ‘I Saw A Tiger’ by Joe Exotic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WB6wYVCEY3w
