Video: Rescued From a ‘Tiger King’ Villain and Near Death, Cub Now Walks and Plays

For Immediate Release:
December 7, 2021

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Here’s a wonderful piece of Tiger King 2 bonus content: A PETA video just released today shows the heartwarming and dramatic transformation of Nala, a lion-hybrid cub rescued from the Oklahoma roadside zoo that Tiger King subject Jeff Lowe infamously took over from “Joe Exotic.”

When federal inspectors caught sight of Nala in June 2020, they were so horrified that they halted their inspection to order Lowe to provide her with urgent veterinary care. Her ears were eaten away by flies, she was severely underweight, she had multiple fractures as a result of a severe vitamin deficiency, and she couldn’t take more than a step or two without falling over. But a PETA court victory against Lowe’s former business partner—fellow Tiger King villain Tim Stark, who had illegally transferred Nala to Lowe—won PETA the right to rescue her in September 2020. Today, she’s thriving at The Wild Animal Sanctuary in Colorado, where—thanks to its expert care—she explores a vast habitat and wrestles and cuddles with her pride of fellow PETA-rescued felines.

Meanwhile, as Tiger King 2 reveals, thanks to a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit and some help from PETA, Lowe no longer has any big cats in his custody and has agreed never to exhibit animals again.

“This cub’s dire condition in Lowe’s cage and her wonderful recovery at The Wild Animal Sanctuary illustrate exactly why roadside zoos need to be shut down,” says PETA Foundation Deputy General Counsel for Captive Animal Law Enforcement Brittany Peet. “PETA will be watching to make sure Lowe and his ilk never get their hands on another wild or exotic animal.”

More details about PETA’s dealings with Lowe are available here.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.