The case of Joe “Exotic” and his GW Zoo has seen a number of unexpected reveals in the months since Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness debuted back in March, with the latest shocking turn in the situation being that a court has awarded the zoo’s property to Carole Baskin, his biggest rival, as he serves a 22-year sentence in prison for attempting to hire someone to murder her, as well as acts of animal abuse and endangerment. The ruling includes the land of the zoo and many of the vehicles and portable homes on the property, with current owner Jeff Lowe having 120 days to vacate the premises, along with the animals currently there, per Oklahoma News 4.
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The lawsuit dates back to 2016 in which Exotic was found accountable to pay Baskin $1 million due to a trademark infringement. As chronicled in the TV series itself, Exotic attempted to avoid paying these fees by transferring his land over to his mother, Shirley M. Schreibvogel.
“Schreibvogel later admitted under oath that the zoo land was transferred to her by Joe Maldonado to remove it from the reach of creditors, including BCR, should BCR win its Florida lawsuit,” the complaint stated. “Schreibvogel also admitted in 2015, via a confession of judgment she entered into to resolve a lawsuit filed against he by the Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee overseeing Joe Maldonado’s personal bankruptcy estate, that the zoo land was fraudulently transferred to her by Joe Maldonado in 2011 to avoid his creditors.”
Due to the coronavirus pandemic forcing Netflix subscribers around the world to quarantine themselves and the absurd real-life journey of the characters, few things have captured the internet this year as immensely as Tiger King.
Exotic’s GW Zoo was an institution run for profit while Baskin’s Big Cat Rescue is a nonprofit entity. Due to the conflicting intentions with their organizations, Baskin has been attempting to shut down Exotic’s attempts to profit off of animals dating back to its early days. The more Exotic became aware of Baskin’s efforts, the more passionately he attempted to shut her down, thanks in large part to a web series he hosted from his zoo. The program included regularly subjecting effigies of Baskin to violent acts, all of which escalated to Exotic’s attempts to have her killed for $10,000.
Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness is currently streaming on Netflix.
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