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Animal handler Ryan Easley, 37, was fatally mauled by a tiger as onlookers watched during the end of a big cat show at a preserve in southeastern Oklahoma, Choctaw Police Department confirmed.
The incident happened at the Growler Pines Tiger Preserve in Hugo, Okla., on Sept. 20. While inside a large enclosure with the animal, the tiger suddenly attacked, biting and shaking Easley, according to Choctaw County Sheriff Terry Park.
“It was a big tiger,” Park told The Associated Press. “This particular one, he’d had for quite some time.”
Park said that Easley’s wife and young daughter were present when the attack occurred.
Deputies and emergency medical workers responded to the scene and pronounced Easley dead, Park said.
In a statement posted to Facebook, The Growler Pines Tiger Preserve called the incident “a painful reminder of both the beauty and unpredictability of the natural world.”
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“Ryan understood those risks — not out of recklessness but out of love. The animals under his care were not just animals to him, but beings he formed a connection with — one rooted in respect, daily care and love,” the post added.
The preserve noted that all tours and encounters will be cancelled until further notice.
Easley’s family started a GoFundMe campaign to help in “honoring Ryan’s legacy of devotion, compassion, and love.”
“Ryan’s impact cannot be overstated. His dedication, his sacrifice, and his love for his work were unmatched. Anyone who met him could feel his passion—not only for the animals and his work—but even more so for his family,” the page read.
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The GoFundMe campaign has raised more than US$37,000 of its goal of $40,000 from more than 260 donations as of Wednesday afternoon.
Easley had acquired some of the tigers at the preserve from Tiger King star Joe Exotic, Park told The New York Times.
In a statement posted to X, Joe Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, said that he had known Easley for many years and said he once built a compound at his zoo in Wynnewood more than a decade ago to house Easley’s tigers during the winter.
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“No one can blame the tiger for what happened. We all take risk in what we do and we don’t need further laws to ban tigers because of this because you can get killed doing just about anything,” Maldonado-Passage wrote.
“So with all my respect as a human R.I.P. Ryan Easley. You died doing what you loved,” he added.
Maldonado-Passage is currently serving a 21-year prison sentence after he was convicted on 17 federal charges of animal abuse and two counts of attempted murder-for-hire for the plot to kill animal welfare activist Carole Baskin, who appeared in the Netflix docuseries.
3:06 ‘Tiger King’ star Joe Exotic re-sentenced to 21 years in federal prison
Animal rights group PETA said that Easley was “an associate of Joseph Maldonado.”
“Easley had acquired tigers from Joe Exotic and fellow Tiger King villain Bhagavan “Doc” Antle for his business, ShowMe Tigers, and for years had hauled them around the country, forced them to perform in cruel circuses—including Shrine and Carden Circuses—and kept them trapped in cages for hours when they weren’t performing,” the group said in a statement.
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Debbie Metzler, PETA Foundation senior director of captive wildlife, said that it’s “never safe for humans to interact directly with apex predators.
Earlier this month, a longtime zookeeper in Thailand was mauled to death by a pack of lions in front of tourists at Safari World Bangkok.
The fatal attack took place on Sept. 10 at about 11 a.m. local time when an employee stepped out of his vehicle. He was mauled for about 15 minutes, according to Thai News Agency.
Sadudee Punpugdee, wildlife protection director of the Department of National Parks, told AFP that the employee, identified as Jian Rangkarassamee, 58, was “a zoo staff member who usually fed the lions.”
The staff member was “mauled by six or seven of the big cats when he stepped out of his car,” Punpugdee added.
— with a file from The Associated Press
[SRC] https://globalnews.ca/news/11448786/ryan-easley-animal-handler-killed-oklahoma-preserve/
