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Published 10:33 IST, August 20th 2020

Tiger King zoo closes doors after license suspension by USDA

The owner of Oklahoma zoo park, Jeff Lowe, said that the Tiger King zoo will be closing after being under pressure from animal rights group PETA.

Reported by: Shrishaila Bhandary
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The centre of all that went into the Tiger King series, the Oklahoma zoo, has closed doors for visitors after a license suspension. US Department of Agriculture has revoked the exhibitor license of the Oklahoma zoo. The owner, Jeff Lowe, revealed through a Facebook post that the zoo’s doors will be closed with immediate effect.

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Tiger King Zoo closed doors 

As per the post, the zoo has been under pressure from animal rights activists after which Lowe closed the zoo. According to his post on Facebook, the ‘phenomenal journey which changes many lives has come to an end’. He also said that due to many animal rights activities, the zoo has been a target for a lot of things in the past few months. However, he was prepared for the same, as per his post.

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Jeff Lowe was involved in business with Joseph Maldonado-Passagewho, who was known by the name Joe Exotic, who stole all the limelight in the Netflix documentary Tiger King. He was recently sentenced with 22 years in prison after the documentary and investigations revealed his involvement with a murder-for-hire plan for Carole Baskin’s name. It was also revealed that he was involved with many violating acts against the animals in the zoo.

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During the trial in June, the judge ruled in favour of Carole, stating the owners to leave the site. Later in a Facebook post by Lowe, he claimed that he had himself given up the license before USDA’s involvement. As per his post, he was pressurised by PETA and the allegations against him.

Is Tiger King Zoo open? 

The zoo is under an initial 21-day suspension. However, APHIS will evaluate the situation and take the required steps. The APHIS will also look at the animals at the facility to take necessary actions. As per the suspension report, Lowe cannot be involved in any activities for 21 days. In an interview with The Guardian, a PETA spokesperson revealed that the Tiger King Zoo closed after a long fight from the animal rights group's end. The spokesperson also added that the 'terrorizing days' of Jeff Lowe will not continue anymore. 

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10:33 IST, August 20th 2020