‘Tiger King’ star ‘Doc’ Antle and Va. ‘roadside zoo’ owner indicted on wildlife trafficking charges
FILE: A pair of rescued tigers relax at the Wild Animal Sanctuary on April 5, 2020 in Keenesburg, Colorado. (Photo by Marc Piscotty/Getty Images)
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WINCHESTER, Va. (WAVY) – Bhagavan “Doc” Antle, one of the main figures in Netflix’s popular “Tiger King” documentary, faces multiple wildlife trafficking charges.
According to an investigation by Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring’s Animal Law Unit, Antle and Keith A. Wilson, the owner of Wilson’s Wild Animal Park in Frederick County, Virginia, trafficked lion cubs between Virginia and Antle’s Myrtle Beach Safari park.
Antle has been charged with one felony count of wildlife trafficking, one felony count of conspiracy to wildlife traffic, four misdemeanor counts of conspiracy to violate the Endangered Species Act, and nine misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty.
Wilson faces one felony count of wildlife trafficking, one felony count of conspiracy to wildlife traffic, four misdemeanor counts of violating the Endangered Species Act, four misdemeanor counts of conspiracy to violate the Endangered Species Act, and nine misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty.
Both men were indicted Wednesday by a grand jury, along with two of Doc Antle’s daughters.
Tawny Antle has been charged with one misdemeanor count of cruelty to animals and one misdemeanor count of violating the Endangered Species Act, and Tilakum Watterson has been charged with two misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals and two misdemeanor counts of violating the Endangered Species Act.
Herring’s office says a months-long investigation led to the charges, including a search of Antle’s South Carolina property in December 2019.
Wilson had previously been indicted by a Frederick County grand jury, along with his nephew Christian Dall’Acqua, in November 2019 on animal cruelty charges related to Wilson’s “roadside zoo.” Month’s before, Herring’s Animal Law Unit seized 119 “cruelly treated, neglected, or deprived” animals from the zoo, including lions, tigers, bears, camels, goats and water buffalo.
Antle was one of three primary figures in the Netflix series.
Joseph “Joe Exotic” Maldonado-Passage is in prison for his role in a murder-for-hire plot against another of the show’s main characters, Carole Baskin, who recently appeared on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars.”
Baskin continues to face heat over the 1997 disappearance of her former husband, Don Lewis, but maintains her innocence in the case. Maldonado-Passage has requested a pardon from President Donald Trump.
