If you live in Oklahoma you know all about the Tiger King. You were either there when it all happened, or you were there before it all happened, but you can't get away from it now. No way. I am absolutely no different than every other Oklahoman who has a story to tell about the now infamous wild animal breeder and convicted animal rights violator calling himself "Joe Exotic". I have a really hard time calling him by any of his legal names really, not only because I'm really afraid I'll misspell them, but also because I don't recognize his marriage(s) as being legal and to use his new last name would be stranger still since he is now divorced from that man as well. In the words of Dorothy Gale, "These change so quickly around here", and they do. Let's just call the man Joe Exotic and go from there. Everyone knows who I'm talking about.
In 2008, I moved to Gainesville, Texas to work for a studio production company that wanted to do a reality type documentary on my dog Faith. The project later turned into a feature film, one with more fiction than truth, so I pulled out of the entire mess. When I made the decision to move out of the area I didn't want to go too far because I knew I'd be pulled in and out of court in Gainesville, so I moved just over the Red River into a semi-rural city named Ardmore. It has about 24,000 souls. Good people I might add. The City of Ardmore, Oklahoma is truly an interesting spot on your way to Dallas; about half way from Oklahoma City, and it has just about everything you need including a zoo. Well, speaking of zoos, there was a woman in Ardmore who sold me a phone and wire service for U.S. Cellular, who just happened to be the niece of a man who recently took over the world renown wild life park known as G.W. Wildlife or something like that. The G.W. stood for the man's initials; his name was Gerald Wayne. The last name was a bit more challenging, it was Schreibvogal. (Seriously, it is.)
I mentioned to the woman, I think her name was JoAnna, but I'm not sure, that I wanted to go to the zoo and see the animals up close. She mentioned the cost to go and I laughed. I think it was about a week later, and she saw me in the mall where the phone store was, she told me she had a couple of free passes for me to go to the park!! What? That's awesome. I think Caity, my wild child, was the first to volunteer to go with me, and there we went. Wynnewood, Oklahoma is literally just a hop, skip, and a jump (maybe even just a skittle-wink) up the road from Ardmore on I-35. Boom! We were there in no time, and the weather was great. We went in through the gift shop, I think it was planned that way, and we met a couple of the zookeepers who told us as VIPs we were not to get off the paths, use cameras of any type including our phones, and we were just going to be allowed in the park for about an hour while the animals were fed. This was the type of pass we were given, and we had NO IDEA what to expect.
I think what I thought was that we were going to watch the keepers feed, we would be close, we would be expected to stay back a few yards, and just take it all in but that is not what happened. We held buckets of meat while the keepers dug through them, pulling out raw pieces of meat to feed. We had to help lift things, move things, push things, and really got into it for a minute. I was pretty impressed by the amount of food needed to feed all the animals of course, but not once did I feel threatened, scared, or that I was in any sort of danger. Believe me, my kid was just about 18 years old, and I would never have allowed her to be in danger. If you know about Caity and zoos you know that there have been times I've worried for the animals, because she may get a wild hair and steal one, or maybe "steal" is too hard of a word -- she may permanently misplace one or two if she thought she could get away with it, but NO WAY would I have allowed a misplaced tiger, lion, cheetah, or even a full sized bobcat to find its way to my car. Not happening. Down Caity. Down!
I know we met John Reinke because he is the man with two prosthetic legs. He was really kind. We may have met Ed Cowie the head zookeeper too. I know we did not meet Kelsi "Saff", or Joe Exotic himself, but I remember hearing that "Joe" was on his way back from the store and would be there soon, so we needed to wrap things up. At the time, I didn't know that Joe Exotic was the owner. If there was drama, and I'm sure there was, I didn't know it. In 2008 I have no idea who was running the show. G.W. could have been alive at that time. I don't know. I haven't done any research on it because did it didn't matter. It was a cool side of the road animal park that bragged about rescuing animals that would otherwise be put down for not being wild and not being tame. There wasn't a place for them. They had all been bred into captivity, but untrained. They had all been through the wringer is what we were told. Who were we to challenge the story? We just thought it was cool that the state allowed the sanctuary and we were going to be there for a minute.
I remember a few things and over the past couple of years I tried to find the two pictures that I know my daughter took with her flip phone; even though she was told not to. I remember she took a selfie of herself with one of the chimps. I remember she took a photo of the alligators in the building that was secretly set aflame in the Tiger King docudrama. The reason she took the photo of the gators was to report the zoo for the way they were kept. I didn't want to get anyone in trouble, I remember that, but I also didn't think the encasement was safe for either the animals or the humans walking through it. Too many doors and too short of fencing. It was an accident in the making and all I could think of was some kid climbing over the fence to pet a gator - - I was actually happy Caity took that photo. But I can't find either photo now, and it's really a moot point, as the building was set ablaze and all of the gators were killed in the fire...very very sad.
I don't remember seeing Bone Digger and the Dachshunds because that would have made my day. I am the biggest Dachshund fan. I know that the big older lion was insecure if he didn't have at least one of his four fat weenie dogs to keep him company, it was the talk of the zoo, talk of the town really, and I remember I wanted to see it, but it was feeding time. I saw the dogs in the back of the gift shop on my way out, and I made sure to get a few kisses in; that was really probably, for me, the best part of the trip. I have never been a fan of anyone keeping wild animals caged up, but give me a few fat weenie dogs and I'm in Heaven. Though I'm not a fan of seeing the animals in cages, I was impressed that they did do a great job giving them relatively good space to run. No, it wasn't the 400 miles of free open spaces that a giant cat deserves, but it wasn't a tiny 10x10 cage either. Each animal had a half an acre or so to roam (well, to pace). It's not ideal, and it was both sad and incredible at the same time, and something I won't forget.
Another year went by and I moved from Ardmore, Oklahoma to Indianapolis, Indiana, and back again in 2015. I think, if I had to think hard, that I remember some of the spit-spat between the various big cat rescues being aired on television, there seemed to be a buzz about it. I just wasn't all that interested in knowing anything unless it concerned how to help the animals. That would have caught my attention. When Saff lost her arm in the accident at the zoo I do remember my daughter saying we didn't meet her but saw her in the distance at the zoo when we had been there. Again, I couldn't tell you. Having seen her on the show now, I think maybe we did, but couldn't swear to it. Like EVERYONE else who was forced to stay home in the spring of 2020, I watched the Netflix super drama TIGER KING and couldn't keep my eyes off the set. I was glued and my jaw hit the floor with the full force of the magnitude of what was happening right before our eyes - - ON VIDEO. LIVE and UP CLOSE.
The Tiger King put Wynnewood, Oklahoma on the map for sure! No one hears that I'm from Oklahoma now, without asking me if I've been to Wynnewood! Everyone wants to know if Joe Exotic is my next door neighbor, if I heard the tigers at night, or if I ever worked for the park. Why on this green Earth would anyone and everyone assume that because you're from Oklahoma that you're mixed up or messed up with the Tiger King? Don't they know we have football in this state? Our own REAL zoo is world renown. The Oklahoma City Zoological Park is one of the top parks in the WORLD...G.W. was tiny and was insignificant as it was remote. The show, and of course the owner, Joe Exotic, certainly turned things around for that tiny little dot on the map town. Yes, and yes Siree.
Well, like most folks, I watched the Tiger King (Season One) at least a dozen times, shaking my head, but finding myself singing the songs Joe Exotic should have released. If the man had just let the whole Carole Baskin thing go, and released a few of his songs he could have been a gazillionaire. He's really a great singer (weird and bat-shit crazy, yes, but he can sing!) If he had just let it go he would have all the world, not just the big cats, eating out of his hands. Somethings just aren't going to happen. The Tiger King is the biggest and most horrific train wreck you'll probably ever watch, but I absolutely recommend that you watch it. Season Two is out now. Only 5 episodes at the time of this writing, but it will be glorious to see them slap cuffs on Jeff Lowe, James Garretson, Lauren Lowe, and probably "Doc" Antle as well, as it's been proven now, or at least, I am told, that he in fact put young tigers and others down after they reached an age where they were just liabilities. Carole Baskin is herself an absolute MESSSSSSSS but her evidence is strong on most of these people and the way they (and she at one point) treated the animals.
That's it. That's my Tiger King connection. Not a big one. I did take a minute to drive through the new zoo location in Thackerville, OK just before you hit the Red River, and it's not complete. They had to stop production on it. I somehow think the neighbors in that area couldn't be happier -- the plans Jeff Lowe had for it were to turn it into an extension of the WinStar Casino really, making it a place for Playboy Bunny types, sex games, and animals. Sounds exotic, wild, and free -- well, not free, I'm sure it would cost a pretty penny to party there. I'm thinking the tigers are better off NOT being exposed to the raw world of Jeff Lowe and company. Maybe I'm nuts, but I sort of feel sorry for the would be hitman Allen Glover, he seems to be a true victim in this situation. He was used by Jeff, used by Joe, tossed about and thrown about due to his past and his inability to get regular work. He was smart enough to take the money Joe gave him to kill Carole Baskin, and he just left. I liked what Doc Antle said about it really. Paraphrasing, he said you can't find a good hitman for $3000. Not one that you'd need to drive half way across the country, stake out the victim, kill her and then dispose of her body. Yeah, it would be a lot more expensive than that, but when you have meatheads like Joe Exotic and Jeff Lowe running the zoo - - things get wild.
Photo Credit: Pin Su. Pinterest (John Reinke with Bone Digger and the dogs at G.W. Zoo)
