Joe Exotic wanted to become a ‘wolf king’ in 2018 after he started looking after 28 gray wolves
TIGER King star Joe Exotic initially wanted to become a “wolf king” years ago.
In 2018 he apparently also kept more than two dozen gray wolves at the zoo.
According to TMZ, Joe, the subject of the Netflix documentary Tiger King, took in 28 gray wolves in early 2018 from a “petting zoo” in Minneapolis.
That zoo had apparently lost a lawsuit against the The Animal Legal Defense Fund claiming it disobeyed the Endangered Species Act.
ALDF attorney Christopher Berry, who filed the lawsuit, reportedly later sent a legal letter to Joe saying he also broke that law.
Joe was accused of of transporting the animals from Minnesota to Oklahoma, which is against the ESA, because protected animals can’t cross state lines without a permit.
Chris also claimed Joe tried to sell multiple wolf pups on social media, which violated the law’s ban of the commercial sale of endangered animals.
According to Christopher, Joe angrily denied breaking any laws.
TMZ says, Joe ultimately felt the wolves were more than he could handle at the G.W. Exotic Animal Park.
The apparently would escape their cages and run all over the zoo.
So Joe turned them over to Lockwood Animal Rescue in California.
Since then the ALDF has had no more involvement with Joe.
Apparently only 25 of Joe’s 28 wolves made it to Lockwood.
Christopher claims one of the animals died from an infection at Joe’s park, and the other two went missing.
Joe is now serving a 22-year sentence after after being convicted of a murder-for-hire plot against his exotic animal rival Carole Baskin, 58.
Last month Joe sued the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Department of the Interior along with the assistant attorney who prosecuted him and several witnesses.
Joe claimed he was convicted on false and perjured testimony and is seeking nearly $94M in damages.
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The judge initially called to dismiss the suit and gave Joe until the end of the month to file an objection.
Last week, US District Judge Scott Palk extended that deadline to May 28 .
According to The Oklahoman, Joe apparently sent a handwritten letter requesting the additional time to respond.
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