In a development that would surely delight him if he wasn't currently in prison where he can't enjoy any of it, the zoo once run by the Tiger King himself, Joe Exotic, has opened back up and is doing huge numbers. Who (besides everybody) would've known that being the center of a pop culture phenomenon would be good for business?
According to reports, a massive crowd turned out this past weekend to the tourist destination, which has since changed its name from G.W. Exotic Animal Park to the far more to-the-point Tiger King Park. You can see tons of pictures of how well they did over at the Daily Mail.
The Wynnewood, Oklahoma attraction was temporarily shuttered due to coronavirus restrictions, but it was allowed to open up again with new social distancing and sanitation guidelines in place. It sounds/looks like those guidelines were quickly disregarded.
TMZ, citing visitors in attendance, says people from all over the country made the trek to the location, and that "there were hundreds of new visitors" who swung by.
They further add that most people seemed to stop caring about social distancing suggestions once in the park (which appears to be confirmed by pictures in the Daily Mail piece linked above). Face coverings were rare, and most people packed in tight to see the big cats and pet the cubs. Best of luck, tigers!
Despite the zoo's somewhat misleading new name, the big attendance numbers were most beneficial to Exotic's ex-business partner (who doubles as the zoo's current owner), which would be the equally shady Jeff Lowe. Note that Lowe was heavily featured in the Netflix docuseries, and that it was not a flattering portrayal.
Jeff and his wife Lauren are said to have walked around the park greeting guests. Those in attendance also had the opportunity to meet Allen Glover, the alleged hitman hired by Joe to attempt to take out his main adversary, Carole Baskin.
Of course, once again, the series' namesake couldn't enjoy this cash-in on account of being incarcerated. But if it's any consolation, at least Nic Cage is set to play him in a new scripted series. Sometimes you just take what you can get.
