TMZ.com
‘Tiger King’ star Jeff Lowe‘s got trouble with the feds again … but this time he says they’re actually hauling animals out of his zoo.
Jeff tells TMZ … the authorities executed a search and seizure warrant Thursday morning at his Tiger King Park in Thackerville, Oklahoma and began taking animals away, which he believes is a violation of his constitutional rights.
He says the feds are refusing to tell him exactly what’s going on, but according to the warrant … they’re taking animals protected by the Endangered Species Act. We’re told the warrant was issued by a federal judge this week in the Eastern District of Oklahoma.
TMZ.com
Jeff sent us video from the scene, where he says the feds are hauling away one of his liligers … an animal he claims is NOT protected under the Endangered Species Act. BTW, a liliger is the offspring of a male lion and a female liger … a lion and a tiger.
Jeff’s wife Lauren is heard saying the feds are taking all of the zoo’s hybrid animals, and she’s concerned they are all going to be spayed or neutered.
Jeff tells us, “This is why Lauren and I are moving overseas to take over an animal refuge there. ‘Tiger King’ made the USDA look so incompetent that they have a vendetta against everyone that was featured on the show.”
We broke the story in January that the feds were coming after Lowe’s big cats at his park, allegedly over an unauthorized euthanasia of a tiger cub. According to legal docs at the time … the authorities made it clear they wanted to seize all of Jeff’s big cats that were a year old or younger, plus their mothers.
Love County Sheriff William Grisham tells us his office was alerted the feds would be executing a search and seizure warrant, and he was present for it. He says the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was the lead agency, but the USDA was also there during the seizure of the animals.
Sheriff Grisham says the warrant was for 8 big cats, but he believes the feds only took 4. However, Jeff tells us they seized 6.
We’re told this seizure was a continuation of another recent one, but there are no criminal charges to speak of yet and no arrests have been made. We’re told the feds were there to gather the big cats for “evidence.”