A wild animal trainer featured in the popular Netflix series “Tiger King” has been convicted of wildlife trafficking in Virginia, the attorney general’s office has announced.
Bhagavan “Doc” Antle was accused of illegally purchasing endangered lion cubs in Frederick County, Virginia, for display and profit at his South Carolina zoo, Attorney General Jason Miyares said in a news release.
A jury convicted Antle Friday of two felony counts, each of wildlife trafficking and conspiracy to traffic wildlife.
Antle, the owner of Myrtle Beach Safari, appeared in “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness,” a Netflix documentary miniseries that focused on tiger breeders.
The jury acquitted Antle of five counts of animal cruelty and Judge Alexander Iden dismissed four additional counts of animal cruelty against Antle and all charges against his two adult daughters, The Winchester Star reported.
Prosecutor Michelle Welch said the lucrative Myrtle Beach Safari petting zoo motivated Antle to keep a steady supply of immature lion cubs he bought at Wilson’s Wild Animal Park near Winchester, calling the arrangement a “cub pipeline.” from Virginia to South Carolina.
When Antle and Keith Wilson, the park’s former owner, began doing business in 2015, it was still legal to buy and sell lions, Welch said.
But after the lions were designated as an endangered species in December 2015, lions could only be traded between zoos and wildlife reserves that were part of an established breeding program and had permits. There were three illegal puppy swaps in 2017, 2018 and 2019, Welch said.
antle he was charged in 2020 with various crimes, including felony wildlife trafficking and conspiracy. In August 2019, 119 animals, including lions, tigers, bears, camels, goats, and water buffalo, were seized from the Wilson Roadside Zoo after a judge found Wilson “cruelly treated, neglected, or deprived” of the animals. of proper care.
Wilson testified that Antle paid him upfront under the guise of a donation. He said Antle paid between $2,500 and $3,000 per cub with the exception of the 2017 transaction when Antle traded three lynx kittens for three lion cubs.
Wilson is charged with nine misdemeanor animal cruelty and 10 felony sale of an endangered species and a hearing in his case is scheduled for Friday.
Defense attorney Erin Harrigan said Antle’s prosecution was politically motivated in response to a growing public outcry against the exploitation of wild animals for entertainment purposes.
“This has been a crime-seeking agenda since the beginning of the investigation,” Harrigan said.
Harrigan maintained that the cubs were gifts, and Antle sent donations to Wilson to expand the tigers’ habitat.
“These were not sales,” Harrigan said.
Iden allowed Antle, who faces up to 20 years in prison, to remain free on bail pending sentencing on September 14.
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