A tiger handler linked to “Tiger King” Joe Exotic was killed Saturday by one of the big cats at the Oklahoma preserve where he worked, according to the facility.
Ryan Easley “lost his life in an accident involving a tiger under his care,” the Growler Pines Tiger Preserve said in a statement posted to Facebook.
“This tragedy is a painful reminder of both the beauty and unpredictability of the natural world. Ryan understood those risks — not out of recklessness but out of love,” it said.
Describing Easley as “a passionate advocate for wildlife conservation,” Growler Pines said he had dedicated his life to protecting and caring for big cats.
The Hugo, Oklahoma, facility was established as ShowMe Tigers — Easley’s traveling big cat show — increased its focus on conservation and looked for a permanent home where visitors could learn about its retired circus animals, according to the Growler Pines website.
Easley was attacked during an act with a tiger at Growler Pines and was not breathing when deputies arrived, CNN affiliate KXII said, citing the Choctaw County Sheriff.
Animal rights groups reacted to news of Easley’s death with calls to end the use of wild animals in performances.
One of its investigators had spent weeks undercover working and traveling with ShowMe Tigers, watching the animals being forced to perform tricks, said Humane World for Animals, formerly called the Humane Society of the United States, in a statement Sunday.
“Ryan Easley’s death was a sad and preventable tragedy,” the group said.
PETA said Easley had gotten his tigers from Joseph Maldonado, popularly known as Joe Exotic, and Bhagavan ‘Doc’ Antle, both of whom appeared in the Netflix series “Tiger King.” The tigers had boarded at Joe Exotic’s zoo in winter when not touring, it said in a statement on Easley’s death Sunday.
Joe Exotic — whose real name is Joe Maldonado — expressed his condolences on social media after Easley’s death, the Oklahoman reported. “Prayers go out to his family,” it quoted him as saying. “Ryan took great care of his animals! He loved everyone of those tigers and was an advocate for tigers as well as elephants.” The Oklahoman said the posts were later removed from Instagram and Facebook.
There have been a number of attacks by captive big cats in recent years, including a fatal tiger attack on a keeper at the Palm Beach Zoo in 2016 and another by a lion at a North California animal sanctuary in 2013.
In 2007, an escaped Siberian tiger attacked and killed one zoo patron and injured two others in a cafe at the San Francisco Zoo.
CNN’s Amanda Jackson contributed to this report.
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