Search icon

Entertainment

02nd Jun 2020

Carole Baskin handed control of Joe Exotic’s zoo in Oklahoma following court case

Conor Heneghan

Joe Exotic is currently serving 22 years in prison for a plot to kill the CEO of Big Cat Rescue.

Carole Baskin, the long-term rival of famous zoo operator Joe Exotic, has been handed control of Exotic’s zoo in Oklahoma after it was proven that the zoo properties were fraudulently transferred so Exotic could avoid paying Baskin in a $1 million trademark judgment.

According to Courthouse News, it was proven in a court case in Oklahoma City that, as claimed by Baskin in 2016, Exotic fraudulently transferred the zoo properties to his mother, Shirley M. Schreibvogel, in 2011 in order to keep the properties out of the reach of creditors.

Those creditors included Baskin, to whom Exotic had been ordered to pay $1 million for copyright infringement.

Exotic is currently serving a 22-year prison sentence for 17 counts of animal abuse as well as a plot to kill Baskin, the CEO of Big Cat Rescue and a long-term rival of Exotic, a rivalry which was examined in the wildly popular documentary, Tiger King, released on Netflix earlier this year.

Until the judgement in court, the zoo had been operating under the ownership of Jeff Lowe, who also featured heavily in Tiger King and who now has 120 days to vacate the zoo – which he had renamed Tiger King park – and remove all the animals.

Lowe doesn’t seem all that bothered by the predicament, however, telling TMZ: “We have long anticipated that the judge would eventually undo the 2016 land transfer.

“We are thankful that he dragged out his decision this long and allowed us time to complete the new Tiger King Park in Thackerville, Oklahoma, behind the world’s largest casino.”

“Considering (Baskin) spent approximately $2.5 million chasing her $1 million judgment, we congratulate her on her new acquisition of 16 acres in rural Oklahoma,” Lowe added.

He also managed one last dig at Baskin, the context of which will instantly be familiar with the millions of people worldwide who have watched Tiger King in recent weeks and months.

“The possibility of human remains being buried on this land should make her feel right at home,” he said.