Forget Tiger King, Joe Exotic Nearly Became Wolf King Before A Contentious Legal Battle Stopped Him!

Joe Exotic sure was looking to expand his Oklahoma zoo for quite a while there before being dethroned from his Tiger King perch, wasn’t he?!

The former animal keeper and controversial tiger handler, now serving time in federal prison on a slew of charges including animal cruelty and putting out a hit on a rival, apparently wanted to expand his kingdom to wolves recently. In fact, the only thing stopping him was one hell of a legal battle put forth by animal rights organizations!

This particular drama started just a couple years ago, back in early 2018 when a so-called “petting zoo” in Minnesota was legally ordered to give up its slew of gray wolves after a court ruled it was violating the federal Endangered Species Act. The zoo had more than 60 gray wolves to move, and was desperate to get them new homes — and that’s where Joe Exotic stepped in, eventually acquiring 28 (!) of them in a hurried transaction.

Quickly, though, the Animal Legal Defense Fund got Joe in its crosshairs and accused him of violating federal law, as well; it’s illegal to transport protected and endangered species across state lines without a permit. The fund also accused Joe of trying to sell endangered animals, after they allegedly found at least four instances of the new Netflix star trying to sell young wolf pups on social media. Yikes…

Crazier than that was how Joe apparently just didn’t even have the facilities to take care of the animals in the first place; TMZ reports that the wolves “often clawed out of their enclosures and ran amok” at Joe’s Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park. WTF?!?!

Before too long, Joe apparently realized the wolves weren’t actually a good fit for his place, either, and turned the endangered animals over to an animal protection organization in Ventura, California. The ALDF then dropped their legal complaints against Joe and took no further action — hence why this wasn’t previously reported on much, apparently.

But the worst part of all of this is the outcome for the animals: 25 of the 28 wolves Exotic had acquired were successfully transferred to the facility in Ventura, but at least one died from an infection during its short time at Joe’s Oklahoma zoo. Two others “went MIA,” according to TMZ, and “no one ever figured out what happened to them.” Ummm… that’s a horrifying thought!!!

More controversy for Joe Exotic here as the fallout from Tiger King continues, ya know?! We still honestly don’t even know what to make of this crazy world of big cats… and, apparently, big wolves… What do U think, Perezcious readers?