Tiger King zoo ordered to turn over big cats

Joseph Maldonado-Passage, also known as Joe Exotic (AP/Sue Ogrocki, File)

A federal judge in Oklahoma has ordered the new owners of an Oklahoma zoo featured in Netflix’s Tiger King documentary to turn over all the lion and tiger cubs in their possession, along with the animals’ mothers, to the federal government.

US District Judge John F Heil III issued the order last week in the case against Jeffrey and Lauren Lowe and the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park based on claimed violations of the Endangered Species Act and the Animal Welfare Act.