Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Tiger King: Joe Exotic museum featuring jewelled crown, glass pipe and pill bottles set to open

Items including ‘Exotic Animal Park’ sign and ‘Tiger King’ star’s personal items will be on display

Isobel Lewis
Thursday 16 July 2020 09:58 BST
Comments
Tiger King's Dillon Passage says Joe Exotic is 'in danger' in prison

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Joe Exotic’s prized possessions are being collected for a Tiger King museum exhibition.

Following the success of Netflix’s hugely popular true crime series about rival zookeepers, actor and presenter Zak Bagans is reportedly creating an exhibition containing many of the show’s most memorable items.

Over the weekend, Bagans visited Exotic’s zoo in Oklahoma, which is now owned by Jeff Lowe, to film an episode of his show Ghost Adventures.

However, as reported by TMZ, Bagans left with a number of Exotic’s items, including a penis pump, jewelled crown, pill bottles, clothing, wedding trinkets and a glass pipe belonging to his late husband Travis Maldonado.

Bagans is also said to have taken the original “Exotic Animal Park” sign and a section of an art mural wall featuring a bullet hole from Maldonado’s suicide.

The memorabilia will feature at a Tiger King exhibit at the Haunted Museum in Las Vegas, which is owned by Bagans.

In June, a judge ruled that Exotic must hand over his zoo to nemesis Carole Baskin, with Lowe being given 120 days to vacate the premises and remove all of his exotic animals from the property.

Exotic is currently serving 22 years in prison after being convicted in 2019 of trying to hire a hitman to kill Baskin. He was also convicted of numerous animal abuse charges.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in