Judge awards ownership of Joe Exotic’s zoo to Carole Baskin

Netflix(OKLAHOMA) — If you thought the Tiger King drama was over, think again.  A judge ruled on Monday that Joe Exotic’s nemesis Carole Baskin is now the owner of the zoo he founded.

TMZ obtained copies of the court ruling where a federal judge ruled that Exotic’s attempts to transfer ownership of his Oklahoma sanctuary to his mother and Jeff Lowe in 2016 was fraudulent. In order to satisfy a previous $1 million ruling in favor of Baskin, in which she was never compensated, she was granted control of the property.

The judge is giving Lowe 120 days to vacate the premises, which he recently renamed Tiger King Park to cash in on the hit Netflix docu-series.

When approached for comment about losing the property, Lowe told 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.”

Lowe added that, overall, it’s Carole who lost out in the end, “Considering she spent approximately 2.5M chasing her 1M judgment, we congratulate her on her new acquisition of 16 acres in rural Oklahoma.”

He also took a shot at Baskin by nodding to a fan theory that she killed her husband and fed him to the tigers, “The possibility of human remains being buried on this land should make her feel right at home.”

Baskin’s first husband disappeared without a trace in 1997. Police have since ruled she is not an official suspect in the case.

Netflix’s bizarre series Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness was a breakout hit this spring with 34 million people binging the series in the first 10 days of its release.

By Megan Stone
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

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