Joseph Maldonado—also known as Joe Exotic from the Netflix series “Tiger King"— sued an Indiana roadside zoo Friday, alleging it publicly exhibited four of his former tigers illegally and harmed them with small enclosures and unnecessary sterilization.
Maldonado, who is currently spending time in federal prison in part for killing five tigers at his own zoo operation, alleged the Black Pine Animal Sanctuary in Albion, Ind., violates the Endangered Species Act’s “take” prohibitions for the tigers. The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of Indiana.
Black Pine’s operators “do not possess an ESA permit ...