68 lions, tigers and other panthers once owned by "Joe Exotic", the flamboyant zoo owner at the heart of the documentary Tiger King, have been seized the US Department of Justice said on Thursday.
Prosecutors said they believed a jaguar, seven lions, 46 tigers and 15 lion-tiger hybrids owned by Jeffrey Lowe and his wife, Lauren Lowe, had been sold, purchased or transported, which would be a violation of the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
The affidavit said: “There is probable cause to believe that the 68 big cats and the jaguar continue to be harmed and harassed and, therefore, unlawfully taken in violation of the ESA.”