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By Miriam Raftery
August 19, 2020 (Alpine) – Bobbi Brink, owner of the Lions, Tigers and Bears animal sanctuary in Alpine, has offered to aid in the rescue and relocation of all animals at G.W. Zoo. The U.S. Department of Agriuclture has suspended the exhibitor license for the facility also known as the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park featured on the Netflix docu-series “Tiger King.”
The owner, Jeff Lowe, “just announced that he has actually relinquished his license and will no longer be exhibiting animals,” Brink says. Lowe will be banned from exhibiting big cats, bears, primates or other USDA-regulated species at any other property as well as at G.W. Zoo.
The USDA suspended the license after inspectors in June found injured and sickly animals with dangerous and dismal living conditions including:
- A pair of old, arthritic wolves that never received proper bedding or medication they were prescribed by a veterinarian
- A lethargic lion cub suffering from severe fly strike (a condition in which fly larvae eat away at the flesh) and a severe respiratory illness that has been left untreated
- Malnourished, anxious bears, exhibiting neurotic behaviors conducive to captive psychosis
- Tiger corpses rotting in open pits.
Brink says that loss of the license actually “puts the animals in a position of further falling victim to poor animal care practices because they will no longer fall under the jurisdiction of the USDA - and won't be afforded the protections that this government agency is required to uphold.”
You can read the full report here - and view photos from the inspection here.
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