Animal handler Ryan Easley, 37, was fatally mauled by a tiger as onlookers watched throughout the finish of an enormous cat present at a protect in southeastern Oklahoma, Choctaw Police Division confirmed.
The incident occurred on the Growler Pines Tiger Protect in Hugo, Okla., on Sept. 20. Whereas inside a big enclosure with the animal, the tiger all of a sudden attacked, biting and shaking Easley, in accordance with Choctaw County Sheriff Terry Park.
“It was an enormous tiger,” Park told The Associated Press. “This specific one, he’d had for fairly a while.”
Park mentioned that Easley’s spouse and younger daughter have been current when the assault occurred.
Deputies and emergency medical staff responded to the scene and pronounced Easley useless, Park mentioned.
In an announcement posted to Facebook, The Growler Pines Tiger Protect referred to as the incident “a painful reminder of each the sweetness and unpredictability of the pure world.”
“Ryan understood these dangers — not out of recklessness however out of affection. The animals underneath his care weren’t simply animals to him, however beings he shaped a reference to — one rooted in respect, each day care and love,” the submit added.
The protect famous that every one excursions and encounters will likely be cancelled till additional discover.
Easley’s household began a GoFundMe marketing campaign to assist in “honoring Ryan’s legacy of devotion, compassion, and love.”
“Ryan’s impression can’t be overstated. His dedication, his sacrifice, and his love for his work have been unmatched. Anybody who met him might really feel his ardour—not just for the animals and his work—however much more so for his household,” the web page learn.
Get breaking Nationwide information
For information impacting Canada and world wide, join breaking information alerts delivered on to you after they occur.
The GoFundMe marketing campaign has raised greater than US$37,000 of its purpose of $40,000 from greater than 260 donations as of Wednesday afternoon.
Easley had acquired among the tigers on the protect from Tiger King star Joe Exotic, Park told The New York Times.
In an announcement posted to X, Joe Unique, whose actual identify is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, mentioned that he had recognized Easley for a few years and mentioned he as soon as constructed a compound at his zoo in Wynnewood greater than a decade in the past to deal with Easley’s tigers throughout the winter.
“Nobody can blame the tiger for what occurred. All of us take danger in what we do and we don’t want additional legal guidelines to ban tigers due to this as a result of you may get killed doing absolutely anything,” Maldonado-Passage wrote.
“So with all my respect as a human R.I.P. Ryan Easley. You died doing what you really liked,” he added.
Maldonado-Passage is at the moment serving a 21-year prison sentence after he was convicted on 17 federal costs of animal abuse and two counts of tried murder-for-hire for the plot to kill animal welfare activist Carole Baskin, who appeared within the Netflix docuseries.
Animal rights group PETA mentioned that Easley was “an affiliate of Joseph Maldonado.”
“Easley had acquired tigers from Joe Unique and fellow Tiger King villain Bhagavan “Doc” Antle for his enterprise, ShowMe Tigers, and for years had hauled them across the nation, pressured them to carry out in merciless circuses—together with Shrine and Carden Circuses—and stored them trapped in cages for hours after they weren’t performing,” the group said in a statement.
Debbie Metzler, PETA Basis senior director of captive wildlife, mentioned that it’s “by no means protected for people to work together instantly with apex predators.
Earlier this month, a longtime zookeeper in Thailand was mauled to death by a pack of lions in entrance of vacationers at Safari World Bangkok.
The deadly assault came about on Sept. 10 at about 11 a.m. native time when an worker stepped out of his car. He was mauled for about quarter-hour, in accordance to Thai News Agency.
Sadudee Punpugdee, wildlife safety director of the Division of Nationwide Parks, told AFP that the worker, recognized as Jian Rangkarassamee, 58, was “a zoo workers member who often fed the lions.”
The workers member was “mauled by six or seven of the massive cats when he stepped out of his automobile,” Punpugdee added.
— with a file from The Related Press
© 2025 World Information, a division of Corus Leisure Inc.
