#‘Tiger King’ star ordered to turn over lions’ medical records to PETA

“Tiger King” star Jeff Lowe has been ordered to release medical records and other documents related to the condition of four lions at the Oklahoma zoo featured in the popular Netflix docu-series.

A Southern Indiana court ruled this week that Lowe has to turn the files over to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the animal-rights group that has long questioned the conditions of the animals at the facility, the Courier-Journal reported Thursday.

“This ruling tells Jeff Lowe that he can no longer evade the court’s authority and needs to come clean about the ways these lions are suffering in his custody,” PETA attorney Brittany Peet said in a statement. “PETA looks forward to reviewing these records and getting these animals transferred to accredited sanctuaries.”

In a report on insider.com earlier this week, whistle-blower Will Mayo posted photos he said were taken at the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park in Oklahoma featured in the series, and said he found the animals in “derelict” condition.

“It looked like an abandoned house’s overgrown backyard,” Mayo told the outlet. “None of the paths were particularly clear. I was like, ‘Is there anything even in this cage? Oh yes, there’s a black bear in the corner.”

Lowe and his former business partner Tim Stark have been embroiled in a seven-year legal battle with PETA, which sued the two claiming violations of the Endangered Species Act, Fox News reported.

This week’s court ruling isn’t Lowe’s only legal tangle — he was sued by the state of Oklahoma last month over $50,000 in unpaid back taxes.

The “Tiger King” series tells the story of Joe Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, and his obsession with big cats.

Maldonado-Passage is currently serving a 22-year prison sentence for his role in a murder-for-hire plot targeting animal rights activist Carole Baskin, CEO of the group Big Cat Rescue.