The private zoo made famous by hit Netflix series Tiger King has shut its doors permanently after its license was suspended.
The Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park, located in Oklahoma, US, has closed with immediate effect after the US Department of Agriculture revoked it licence on Monday.
The park, formerly owned by flamboyant zoo keeper Joe Exotic, is known for its large collection of lions and tigers.
Jeff Lowe, current owner of the zoo, said the decision to shut had been made following pressure from animal rights charity Peta.
"The Tiger King phenomenon has definitely changed our lives in many ways," Lowe, who also featured in the Netflix documentary, wrote on Facebook. "It has brought us more attention than any human deserves, good and bad."
He added that the zoo's collection of animals would "continue to have excellent care".
Lowe also revealed he had voluntarily forfeited his exhibitor's license, which allowed him to buy and sell animals, due to the park's permanent closure.
The closure follows a federal judge's ruling in June that the zoo be handed over to Exotic's rival, founder of Big Cat Rescue Carole Baskin, as part of a trademark infringement lawsuit.
Court documents stated Lowe, who took over management of the park after Exotic was jailed for a murder contract, had 120 days to vacate the zoo.
True-crime series Tiger King became a worldwide phenomenon when it was released in March, and was reportedly watched 34 million times in its first 10 days on the streaming platform. It told the story of Exotic, his rivalry with activist Baskin and his imprisonment for hiring a hitman to try to kill her.
In the series, Baskin was a vocal critic of Exotic’s animal park, with her contrasting view of how to care for tigers and other wild animals providing much of the plot line for the show.
The series is in the running for six Emmy awards, including best documentary series, ahead of a ceremony in September.
In May, it was announced the show had inspired an eight-episode drama series starring Nicolas Cage as Exotic.
Additional reporting by Reuters
It's up to you to go green
Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.
“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”
When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.
He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.
“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.
One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.
The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.
Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.
But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”
Brief scores:
Toss: Sindhis, elected to field first
Kerala Knights 103-7 (10 ov)
Parnell 59 not out; Tambe 5-15
Sindhis 104-1 (7.4 ov)
Watson 50 not out, Devcich 49
The five pillars of Islam
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
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