A tiger fatally mauled its handler at a preserve in Oklahoma, officials at the facility say.
Ryan Easley, the operator of the Growler Pines Tiger Preserve near Hugo, Oklahoma, was mauled to death on Saturday in what the site portrayed as an “accident” with a tiger under his care.
Easley – who once had conducted business with Joseph Maldonado, better known as Joe Exotic and the star of the true crime television series Tiger King – was evidently killed by a tiger he owned at his roadside zoo.
Before his death, Easley had reportedly acquired tigers for his ShowMe Tigers business from Joe Exotic and Bhagavan “Doc” Antle, who was also seen in Tiger King. Easley had shown the tigers around the country in traveling circuses.
“This tragedy is a painful reminder of both the beauty and unpredictability of the natural world,” Growler Pines Tiger Preserve said in a statement on Facebook.
“Ryan understood those risks – not out of recklessness but out of love,” statement continued. “The animals under his care were not just animals to him, but beings he formed a connection with – one rooted in respect, daily care and love.”
The preserve has canceled all tours and animal encounters in the wake of Easley’s death.
In her own statement, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) foundation’s senior director of captive wildlife, Debbie Metzler, said: “It’s never safe for humans to interact directly with apex predators, and it’s never a surprise when a human is attacked by a stressed big cat who has been caged, whipped, and denied everything natural and important to them.”
Metlzer also said she was calling for “the remaining wild animal exhibitors who aren’t dead or in federal prison to get out of the business now and send the animals to accredited sanctuaries where they can finally live in peace”.
The statement from Metzler was presumably referring to Joe Exotic’s conviction in 2019 on charges of animal abuse and an unsuccessful murder-for-hire plot aimed at his rival Carole Baskin, an activist and founder of Big Cat Rescue.
Exotic is serving a 21-year prison sentence.
He put out a statement on Instagram on Sunday complaining that the media had dragged him into the story of Easley – one Exotic said he had nothing to do with.
“This is the crap I am sick of,” he wrote, in part. “I had nothing to do with this dude other than 18 years ago I let him keep his tigers at my zoo for one winter. Sick of being exploited for headlines.”
