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Tiger King: Murder Mayhem and Madness is the latest Netflix documentary series everybody is talking about. Across the seven episodes, Jeff Lowe went from being Joe Exotic’s friend, business partner to an enemy. Express.co.uk has everything you need to know about Lowe and his whereabouts today.
Who is Jeff Lowe?
Jeff Lowe is a zoo owner and former business partner of Joe Exotic.
Unfortunately, not much is known about Lowe’s background.
He explained in the documentary that he grew up around big cats as his grandfather was a circus owner.
Lowe met Joe Exotic in 2015 when he visited Exotic’s zoo, G.W Zoo to buy a cub. However, when he was there, Lowe decided he wanted to help save the zoo from being taken off by animal rights activist, Carole Baskin.
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Months later, when Exotic filed for bankruptcy, Lowe put the zoo in his name, effectively meaning he now owned the zoo.
In 2016, he and his wife Lauren Lowe bought the zoo and became its owners.
Before Exotic was imprisoned, Jeff moved to Las Vegas and started a business where he let people party with cubs.
However, Lowe did not have the proper licence to have the animals and they were seized from him by the police. He was also fined $10,000 [£8,240].
Later, Lowe turned on Exotic and became an informant for federal investigators who were looking into the murder-for-hire plot of Carole Baskin.
Where is Jeff Lowe now?
The filming of Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness wrapped up in mid-2019 and since then, Lowe has managed to stay in the spotlight.
Lowe still owns GW Zoo, founded by Joe Exotic who is currently serving 22 years in prison for the murder-to-hire plot of Carole Baskin, alongside animal cruelty charges.
The Tiger King’s former friend and business partner has changed the name from GW Zoo [Garold Wayne Exotic Animal Memorial Park] to Greater Wynnewood Animal Park which is still up and running today.
As seen in the Netflix documentary, Lowe is and his wife Lauren Lowe are still planning to open the Oklahoma Zoo in Thackerville, Oklahoma.
They plan to merge their Greater Wynnewood Animal Park with the new Oklahoma Zoo, in a bid to move away from Joe Exotic’s mark on the zoo.
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In a recent Facebook post, Lowe wrote: “We think it’s best to let this zoo die with Joe’s conviction and not make the next generation of animals to live here forever suffer his outrageous behaviour and reputation.”
He added: “There is SO MUCH MORE to be revealed about Joe and his crimes against animals, and we don’t want to be associated with him any longer.”
In an interview with KOCO after Joe was sentenced in January 2020, Lowe’s wife Lauren said: “[Joe’s] name will not be mentioned.
“He will have nothing to do with the new facility. Going to let this place in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, die with him.”
Lowe has been sharing photographs of his zoo on Instagram, which, looking at the photos is still a work in progress.
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The zoo was supposed to open in Spring 2019 but was delayed by more than one year to Spring 2020. With April fast approaching, the zoo is expected to open very soon.
Tiger King director Eric Goode, however, has other opinions.
Speaking exclusively to Entertainment Weekly, Goode said that Lowe is “basically operating on fumes”.
He said: “I got a very long text today from Jeff Lowe, who is running Joe’s old zoo.
“All I can tell you is that he is basically operating on fumes. No one is going now and there’s no source of income, and that’s been going on for a long time.
“It’s not something that has just happened because of what’s happening in the world today.
“I think that it’s very sad what’s happening to these animals. And it’s anyone’s guess as to what’s going to happen to them.
“Some will be placed but I would suspect a lot of them will die from starvation, and probably be put down.”
However, whether the zoo will open will also depend on the current Coronavirus outbreak.
Furthermore, it was reported today (Thursday, March 26) that Joe Exotic – real name Joseph Maldonado-Passage – is suing the US Federal Wildlife Service and the US Department of Interior, for $78.84million [£66m].
He is also suing Jeff Lowe, his former business partner and another colleague, for $15million [£12m].
According to a post on his official Facebook page, he is also seeking a presidential pardon from Donald Trump.
Tiger King is streaming on Netflix now
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