Carole Baskin Gets Legal Control Of Joe Exotic's Zoo

Carole Baskin will soon take control of the zoo formerly operated by Joseph Maldonado-Passage, better known as the centre of the Netflix docuseries Tiger King, "Joe Exotic"

The G.W. Exotic Animal Memorial Park in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, has been under the control of Jeff Lowe in recent years but is now being handed over to Baskin, the very woman whom Joe was convicted of plotting to kill.

Baskin and her Big Cat Rescue corporation have been granted control of the Oklahoma zoo property by a judge who found that the property was fraudulently transferred to Maldonado-Passage's mother years ago, Fox 25 reported Monday.

Lowe has 120 days to vacate the premises — including all of his animals currently residing there, according to a copy of the ruling published by the Courthouse News Service.

A rep for Lowe, a rep for Big Cat Rescue and Maldonado-Passage's public defender did not immediately respond for comment.

The ruling Monday marks yet another twist in the complicated world of big cats kept in the United States captured in the Netflix docuseries Tiger King.

Director Eric Goode told Entertainment Weekly in March that the zoo under Lowe's leadership was still open, but "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," Goode said. "It's not something that has just happened because of what's happening in the world today."

In a complaint filed in February 2016, Big Cat Rescue sued Maldonado-Passage's mother, Shirley M. Schreibvogel, alleging that the transfer of the Oklahoma zoo was fraudulent.

"Schreibvogel later admitted under oath that the zoo land was transferred to her by Joe Maldonado to remove it from the reach of creditors, including BCR, should BCR win its Florida lawsuit," the complaint said, according to the Courthouse News Service.