‘It’s not us’: Hogle Zoo denies any connection to Joe Exotic, ‘Tiger King’ documentary

Jilin, an Amur leopard cub, sits at Utah’s Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Aug. 9, 2018. Amur leopards are critically endangered, with only about 60 remaining in the wild. On Thursday the zoo introduced five Pallas’ cat kittens, a black-footed cat kitten and Jilin to the public. | James Wooldridge, Deseret News

Utah’s Hogle Zoo denies any connection to the Greater Wynne Wood Exotic Animal Park

Utah’s Hogle Zoo denied any connection between its zoo and Joe Exotic from the “Tiger King” Netflix documentary or the Greater Wynne Wood Exotic Animal Park in Oklahoma.

“Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness” has been a viral hit on Netflix recently. It shares the life story of Joe Exotic, a big game and wild cat breeder from Oklahoma. Exotic previously ran the Greater Wynne Wood Exotic Animal Park in Oklahoma.

During one of the episodes, a map appears that shows where there are big cat owners and exhibitors. There’s a pin in Utah around the Salt Lake City area.

“It’s not us,” said Erica Hansen, manager of community relations at Utah’s Hogle Zoo.

Hansen said Hogle Zoo’s tigers are from the species survival plan from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

“It’s a program designed to help accredited zoos contribute to the survival of the species. Similar to a massive computer dating system for zoo animals,” she told the Deseret News in an email. “They carefully monitor blood lines and such with the goal being to keep the population in zoos as healthy as possible.”

Hansen said she’s received questions about Joe Exotic while running the Facebook field trips that Hogle Zoo has been doing during the coronavirus pandemic.

“Good ol’ Joe Exotic,” she said in an email. “We did our Facebook Field Trips yesterday from our big cats and, as you can imagine, ‘Tiger King’ references were plentiful.”

On Tuesday, Utah’s Lagoon denied connection to Joe Exotic, too. The park has a number of exotics animals at the Wild Kingdom Train Zoo, which includes Siberian tigers, a golden eagle, zebras, camels and African lions.

“No, none of Lagoon’s cats came from the location you are referring to,” Adam Leishman, spokesman for Lagoon, told the Deseret News. “It is also worth mentioning that Lagoon does not breed or sell cats.”

Allegations about Lagoon first appeared when Justin Madsen, an English teacher in Utah, wrote an open letter to Lagoon that was published on Medium.

In his article, Madsen alleges that Lagoon might have received animals from the Greater Wynne Wood Exotic Animal Park, which is featured prominently in the documentary.

“You sell big cats to other private zoos, which could well wind up in the collections of unsavory folks like Jeff Lowe, Mario Tabraue, Doc Antle, and the like,” Madsen wrote, referencing people seen in the Netflix documentary. “You also buy big cats from other private zoos, which could include Joe Exotic’s, though your records are private.”

Hansen, of Hogle Zoo, told the Deseret News she wondered if the pin in the “Tiger King” documentary “might be Lagoon too.”

She added, “I also wondered if it’s a private owner? Crazy!”

The Netflix documentary has another connection to Utah, though. “Tiger King” introduces a man named Mahamayavi Bhagavan “Doc” Antle, director of the Institute for Greatly Endangered and Rare Species (T.I.G.E.R.S.) of the Myrtle Beach Safari. One of his co-workers is named Moksha Bybee, who hails from Uintah, Weber County, Utah, which I wrote about for the Deseret News.

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