Bits and Bites from Around the World > Handler killed by tiger in Oklahoma; Supreme Court issues stay of cull for 399 ostriches in B.C.

 

Animal handler linked to Joe Exotic killed by tiger at Oklahoma preserve

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.”

“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.

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.

“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.

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.

Supreme Court Grants BC Ostrich Farm Interim Stay of Cull: Farm’s Lawyer

Karen Espersen, co-owner of Universal Ostrich Farms in Edgewood, B.C., celebrates with her family after learning that the Supreme Court of Canada granted an interim stay order on Sept. 24, 2025, delaying the culling of the farm’s entire herd of some 400 ostriches. The Canadian Press/Aaron Hemens

A B.C. ostrich farm facing a cull order has been awarded an emergency interim stay by the Supreme Court of Canada.

The news comes in advance of a planned slaughter of the flock of 399 ostriches at Universal Ostrich Farms by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) due to avian flu concerns.

The Sept. 24 stay suspends enforcement of the CFIA’s “stamping-out policy” until either the farm’s application for leave to appeal is denied or, if granted, until the matter is completely resolved, according to a copy of the stay provided to The Epoch Times by the farm’s lawyer, Umar Sheikh.

Sheikh says that the CFIA will remain on the property, keeping control of the ostriches until a decision is reached, and that the agency has until Oct. 3 to respond to the application.

The farm has faced multiple legal defeats in its attempts to stop the cull, arguing that the birds are now healthy and scientifically valuable. Both the Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal have rejected the farm’s arguments.

Katie Pasitney, the daughter of one of the farm’s co-owners, expressed her relief for the reprieve in a Sept. 24 video posted to social media.

Related Stories

BC Conservatives Criticize Ostrich Cull as CFIA Moves Forward With Preparations

Co-Owner and Daughter of BC Ostrich Farm Facing Cull Order Arrested

“They’re safe today. I want to thank all of you for your continued love and support,” Pasitney said, addressing supporters. “No threats, no violence. Remember this is not what we stand for here at Universal Ostrich Farms. And I just want to say thank you.”

Meanwhile, fire broke out overnight among a wall of hay bales set up in an ostrich pen by the CFIA on Sept. 23 in advance of the cull. Workers could be seen spraying charred areas of hay with water as smoke billowed from the three-metre-high enclosure on the morning of Sept. 24.

Universal Ostrich Farms co-owner Dave Bilinski told reporters that farm owners would never start a fire nor condone it, and that the farm has its own fire response system because of concerns of peat and grass fires on the property.

The hay bale wall was built on Sept. 23 as the CFIA began preparations to slaughter the flock of ostriches, who have been subject to a cull order since last December when PCR tests showed two cases of avian influenza among 69 birds who died last year.

Tractor trailer trucks moved in with the hay shortly after the Sept. 23 arrests of Pasitney and her mother, the farm’s co-owner Karen Espersen, when the two refused to leave the ostrich pen that day. Both were later released.

RCMP did not immediately respond to requests for details of the overnight fire.

Farm at Centre of Growing Controversy

The farm has generated a large following on social media, with supporters worldwide, and some have gathered at the site itself, near Edgewood in southeastern B.C., to support the owners in their attempts to prevent the destruction of the herd.

The CFIA said that the flock carries a dangerous form of H5N1 and that culling complies with the World Organization for Animal Health’s “stamping out” policy.

“Allowing a domestic poultry flock known to be exposed to highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) to remain alive allows a potential source of the virus to persist,” the agency said in a June 25 statement.

Pasitney says the birds have been symptom-free for 253 days and have developed herd immunity.

Supporters, including UBC professor Steven Pelech, argue that the ostriches could yield valuable medical research. High-profile members and allies of the Trump administration have urged Canada to rescind the cull order, including administrator for the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Dr. Mehmet Oz, American billionaire John Catsimatidis, and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.