Remember when everyone got really into Tiger King at the beginning of the pandemic? The documentary exposed the competitive, cruel, and dubiously legal world of exotic animal breeding and ownership. While everyone focused on Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin, I was always fascinated with Doc Antle.

Antle, who runs the massive Myrtle Beach Safari, has multiple wives and may or may not run a cult.

Now he’s on track to be the latest felon in the franchise, as Antle has been arrested and charged with money laundering. 

Doc Antle Arrested For Money Laundering

According to a Fox News report, prosecutors alleged that Antle and an associate:

“laundered $505,000 over a four-month period by doling out checks from businesses they controlled, receiving a 15% fee of the money that passed through their hands.”

Prosecutors said Antle earned the money from a human trafficking operation smuggling illegal immigrants across the Mexican border. Antle allegedly discussed the matter and planned to inflate attendance numbers at his preserve while claiming the payments were for construction. 

Antle and his associate could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted. 

This is not his first run-in with the law. Prosecutors in Virginia indicted Antle on animal cruelty, illegal animal trafficking, and Endangered Species Act violations. 

Animals At Myrtle Beach Safari

Myrtle Beach Safari is known for its close animal encounters, which animal rights experts say is harmful to the animals since they often need to be sedated to have close contact with humans.


There are also several “liger hybrids.” 

What’s The Rest Of The Tiger King Crew Up To? 

Despite begging for a pardon from President Trump, Joe Exotic remains incarcerated. 

Unfortunately, that b Carole Baskin remains at large, unlike her husband, whose remains were eaten by a giant tiger. 

I Can’t Go To Wildlife Zoos

I don’t want to come off like a bleeding heart softy here, but I can not, in good faith, go to places like Myrtle Beach Safari. I’m OK with regular zoos, though. I think they’re essential for awareness, conservation, and imagination. But we don’t need to handle baby tigers and certainly don’t need to take pictures with them while they’re tranq’d out of their minds. 

I remember visiting Thailand and seeing tiger encounters experiences that amounted to sitting next to a giant killer beast that was on a chain and enough Xanax to kill a horse. 

The same goes for SeaWorld. Creatures that are meant to roam and be free like that shouldn’t be in cages. Giraffes, birds, pandas? Sure put them in an enclosure. They don’t seem to mind. But beasts meant to hunt and be predators shouldn’t be walled in. 

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