An Oklahoma man with ties to Netflix’s Tiger King was killed during a tiger performance over the weekend.
According to Fox News, Ryan Easley, 37, the owner of Growler Pines Tiger Preserve, “lost his life in an accident involving a tiger” on Saturday, the preserve announced in a Facebook post.
“Growler Pines was more than just a place of work for Ryan, it was his calling, his passion and his life’s purpose,” the post read. “His courage, compassion and unwavering commitment to wildlife will never be forgotten.”
Easley was previously linked to Tiger King star Joseph Maldonado-Passage, better known as Joe Exotic. According to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Easley was “an associate” of Exotic who had obtained animals from him in the past. Both Exotic and PETA responded to Easley’s death.
“I have known Ryan for many years,” Exotic wrote Monday on X. “No one can blame the tiger for what happened. We all take risk in what we do and we don’t need further laws to ban tigers because of this because you can get killed doing just about anything.”
PETA took a harsher tone, describing Easley’s operation as a “roadside zoo” and alleging that he hauled tigers “around the country” to perform in “cruel circuses.”
“It’s never safe for humans to interact directly with apex predators, and it’s never a surprise when a human is attacked by a stressed big cat who has been caged, whipped, and denied everything natural and important to them,” Debbie Metzler, PETA Foundation Senior Director of Captive Wildlife, said in a statement.
“PETA is calling for the remaining wild animal exhibitors who aren’t dead or in federal prison to get out of the business now and send the animals to accredited sanctuaries where they can finally live in peace,” she added.
Choctaw County Sheriff Terry Park confirmed to ABC News that the tiger had been with Easley since it was a cub. He said the animal bit Easley in the neck and shoulder.
“It happened toward the end of a show in which there were people that saw this incident occur,” Park told ABC News. “No one knows, other than God above, as to what made the tiger attack the handler/trainer.”
