Tiger King’s Doc Antle Indicted on Wildlife Cruelty Charges
ANIMAL ABUSE
Bhagavan “Doc” Antle, who starred in Netflix’s Tiger King, was indicted Friday along with two daughters, Tawny Antle and Tilakam Watterson, on multiple felony charges following an investigation by Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring’s animal law unit. The charges include wildlife trafficking offenses, animal cruelty and conspiracy to violate the Endangered Species Act. Herring’s office alleges that Antle and Keith A. Wilson, the owner of Wilson’s Wild Animal Park in Virginia, trafficked lion cubs between the state and Antle’s Myrtle Beach Safari Park. Antle, famous for providing animals for Hollywood films and music videos, was portrayed unflatteringly in Tiger King as a bizarre character who surrounded himself with a harem of underpaid young female workers. Joe Exotic accused Antle of killing older tigers in gas chambers to make space for more cubs.