Tiger King star Doc Antle has been indicted on wildlife trafficking charges.
On Friday, a Virginia state attorney general announced in a press release that the Netflix star has been indicted on wildlife trafficking charges following a months-long investigation of Antle and his zoo, according to PEOPLE.
Antle is the owner of South Carolina’s Myrtle Beach Safari, where he keeps a wide array of wildlife, including big cats, monkeys, elephants, and more. But now, Antle has been charged with one felony count of wildlife trafficking, one felony count of conspiracy to wildlife traffic, and 13 additional misdemeanor charges relating to animal cruelty and the Endangered Species Ac., the outlet reports.
It seems like the attention from “Tiger King” may not have have been in the zoo handler’s best interest to be a part of. The release states that the attorney general’s animal law unit launched a probe into the zoo and its zookeepers and animals. It also looked into Wilson’s Wild Animal Park in Winchester, Virginia. PEOPLE writes that the officer found out that Antle and the owner of Wilson’s Animal Park, Keith Wilson, allegedly trafficked lion cubs between Virginia and South Carolina.
Along with Antle, Wilson was given charges, including one felony count of wildlife trafficking, one felony count of conspiracy to wildlife traffic, and 17 misdemeanor charges. Antle isn’t the only one going down for his alleged crimes. His two daughters also received misdemeanor charges. Tawny Antle faces one misdemeanor count of cruelty to animals. Tilakum Watterson has been charged with two misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals and two misdemeanor counts of violating the Endangered Species Act.
Antle was against the Netflix series, claiming the documentary was “salacious.” Earlier this month, Antle announced he would be participating in a new doc called Tiger Kingdom: More Than a King, which he hopes will show a different side of himself and his park.
“There are two sides of why we have done this project. Tiger King has been interfering with our capacity to do our international conservation work by changing people’s views on saving tigers,” said Antle in a statement.
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