A tiger handler with ties to imprisoned “Tiger King” star Joe Exotic was fatally mauled by one of his own big cats on Saturday at an Oklahoma wildlife preserve, prompting renewed calls from animal rights groups to end the use of wild animals in captivity.
Ryan Easley, 37, was killed in what officials described as “an accident” at Growler Pines Tiger Preserve in Hugo, Oklahoma, near the Texas border. The preserve announced all tours and encounters have been cancelled indefinitely following the tragedy.
Choctaw County Sheriff Terry Park confirmed Easley was performing an educational demonstration with a tiger he had trained since it was a cub when the animal attacked. “He was doing an act with the tiger when something went wrong, resulting in him being attacked,” Park told local media, adding that Easley was not breathing when deputies arrived at the scene.
Trained Tiger Since Cub
Sources told ABC News the tiger that killed Easley was one he had raised and trained for years, making the attack particularly shocking to those familiar with his work. The exact circumstances that triggered the fatal mauling remain under investigation.
“This tragedy is a painful reminder of both the beauty and unpredictability of the natural world,” Growler Pines Tiger Preserve said in a statement posted to Facebook. “Ryan understood those risks – not out of recklessness but out of love.”
The preserve described Easley as “a passionate advocate for wildlife conservation” who had dedicated his life to protecting and caring for big cats. “The animals under his care were not just animals to him, but beings he formed a connection with – one rooted in respect, daily care, and love.”
Joe Exotic Connection
Joseph Maldonado, better known as Joe Exotic, acknowledged Easley’s death in a now-deleted social media post, according to The Oklahoman. The Tiger King star, currently serving a 21-year federal prison sentence at Fort Worth Medical Centre in Texas, wrote: “Prayers go out to his family. Ryan took great care of his animals! He loved everyone of those tigers and was an advocate for tigers as well as elephants.”
Exotic was convicted in 2019 on 19 federal counts including wildlife crimes and two counts of murder-for-hire in a plot against animal activist Carole Baskin. Despite hopes for an early release in 2025, he remains incarcerated whilst battling prostate cancer and lung cancer.
Animal rights organisation PETA claimed Easley had acquired several tigers from the imprisoned Netflix star for his business, ShowMe Tigers, which operated as part of the larger Growler Pines preserve.
Circus Background and Controversy
Easley became an apprentice circus tiger trainer at age 21 before founding ShowMe Tigers in 2015, a company focused on what its website described as the “proper care” and training of “performing tigers.” The business was established after his mentor retired in 2011, leaving him with five tigers including one named Zeya.
“The original five formed the foundation of his business, ShowMe Tigers,” according to a 2022 article in Oklahoma Living magazine. “He added educational components to entertainment – teaching the public how and why they train tigers.”
The facility, which opened for educational tours in June 2021, received the Hugo Chamber of Commerce’s New Business of the Year award that same year. ShowMe Tigers had undergone 37 consecutive successful inspections, according to local officials.
However, Easley’s treatment of animals had drawn criticism from animal welfare groups. In 2017, the Humane Society accused him of whipping a tiger 31 times in two minutes during a training session, with investigators spending weeks undercover documenting conditions at his facility.
Animal Rights Groups React
PETA Foundation Senior Director of Captive Wildlife Debbie Metzler condemned the practice of keeping big cats in captivity following the fatal incident. “It’s never safe for humans to interact directly with apex predators, and it’s never a surprise when a human is attacked by a stressed big cat who has been caged, whipped, and denied everything natural and important to them,” she said.
The organisation called on animal exhibitors to “get out of the business now and send the animals to accredited sanctuaries where they can finally live in peace.”
Humane World for Animals, formerly the Humane Society of the United States, revealed that one of its investigators had spent weeks undercover working with ShowMe Tigers, witnessing animals being forced to perform tricks in circuses across the country.
Hugo’s Circus Heritage
The fatal attack occurred in Hugo, a town of approximately 5,000 residents nicknamed “Circus City USA” for its long history as a winter home for dozens of American circuses. The Kelly Miller Circus, which operated from Hugo until 2019, was among the most prominent shows to winter in the southeastern Oklahoma town.
Hugo’s Mount Olivet Cemetery features a special section called Showmen’s Rest, where numerous circus performers and workers are buried, making the town a significant location in American circus history.
Easley had partnered with the International Elephant Foundation since 2016, raising more than £36,000 ($45,000) for conservation projects in tiger-populated areas of Sumatra and Nepal, according to the preserve’s records.
Previous Big Cat Attacks
This latest incident adds to a concerning pattern of captive big cat attacks in recent years. Notable cases include a fatal tiger attack on a keeper at Palm Beach Zoo in 2016 and a lion attack at a North Carolina animal sanctuary in 2013.
In 2007, an escaped Siberian tiger killed one zoo patron and injured two others at San Francisco Zoo’s café, highlighting the ongoing risks associated with keeping apex predators in captivity.
A GoFundMe page has been established to support Easley’s widow Eliane and their nine-year-old daughter Lily. It remains unknown whether they were present during the fatal attack.
Tech CEO Dies in California Mountain Fall
In a separate tragic incident, Argentine tech entrepreneur Matias Augusto Travizano, 45, died after falling approximately 2,000 feet whilst descending Mount Shasta in Northern California on 12 September.
Travizano, co-founder and former CEO of San Francisco-based data analytics company GranData, was descending the 14,179-foot peak when he and another climber strayed off the Clear Creek Trail and became stranded on the Wintun Glacier at approximately 13,500 feet.
Whilst attempting to slide down to safer ground, Travizano lost control and struck a boulder 300 feet below, according to the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office. After being knocked unconscious for five to ten minutes, he regained consciousness but then slid down the remainder of the glacier “out of sight.”
California Highway Patrol helicopters located his body near the glacier’s base at 10,200 feet several hours later.
The sheriff’s office warned that whilst the Clear Creek Route is considered one of Mount Shasta’s “safer” trails, “climbers can become disoriented in low-visibility conditions, particularly when descending from the summit plateau.”
Travizano, who was also a visiting scholar at UC Berkeley and an adviser to Argentine President Javier Milei, was remembered by colleagues as “authentic, an independent thinker, and astonishingly smart.” He had recently become a father and was married at the time of his death.
Mount Shasta averages one death per year but remains a popular destination for climbers seeking to summit Northern California’s iconic stratovolcano.
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