Tiger King is a true-crime documentary miniseries that was released on Netflix in March and has since exploded into a sort of cult classic. It has certainly gained a cult following of people who are extremely interested in Joe Exotic and everyone who appeared in this documentary about big cat keepers.
One of the main characters is Mahamayavi Bhagavan Antle, known commonly as Doc Antle. Antle is a big cat enthusiast and trainer who runs a 50-acre reserve in South Carolina that provides tours and live exotic animal shows to the public. He also works with other rare or seriously endangered exotic animals.
While it's clear that Joe Exotic and his G.W. Zoo in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, was the main focus of Netflix's new docuseries, it's also obvious that people are clamoring for more information on its sideshows; Doc Antle, Carole Baskin, and Mario Tabraue.
Born in March of 1960, Doc Antle, 60, is apparently still running his T.I.G.E.R.S sanctuary in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, but clearly not everyone is happy about the fact that he's not painted in a more negative light, or especially that he's not rotting in a prison cell.
Given his record for hiring young girls to work on his reserve, it's not a stretch to work on a theory of sexual deviancy and a predilection for getting young girls to engage in a sexual relationship with him. However, the reality star swears that he's never dated any of his employees.
When it comes to relationships, Antle presents himself as solidly single. “I am absolutely not married nor have I been with anyone since my wife died over 20 years ago now,” he explained in an interview with Oxygen. “I’m not married and I certainly don’t have wives. I certainly am a single guy and I live in a house by myself.”
It's also a toss-up as to who is the second act in Tiger King, Doc Antle or Carole Baskin. One is accused, if only in the public eye, of being a sex cult leader who preys on young women and the other is thought to have been a major player in the disappearance of her second husband, Don Lewis.
Everything's Just Fine
Not everything, as you can imagine, has been peachy for Doc Antle since the airing of Tiger King in March. While the owner of Myrtle Beach Safari certainly wasn't pleased about his portrayal in the now infamous documentary, he hasn't let it stop him. And a few run-ins with the law don't seem to have slowed him down either.
“They wanted us to try to help them look at the trail as to where the lions had come from and any evidence of clues as to what the lions’ lives had been like before they moved here,” Antle said after his reserve was part of a SLED police investigation to track lions from a different reserve that had recently been shut down for animal abuse.
Doc Antle has been heavily criticized for being part of the so-called cub petting practice that is a hot topic of debate among those who work with these marvelous animals. While to the layperson it might seem like a no-brainer to not pet a big cat cub; for those in the industry of taking care of these exotic animals and can seem much like a gray area meant for interpretation instead of strict guidelines.
While life may be returning to some semblance of normal for Doc Antle, the current COVID-19 outbreak has certainly put a damper on his business, as social distancing becomes the new normal for most of America and the world. A notice on his tour website announces that as of April 1, 2020, the park is closed, but promises that they are rescheduling tours for future dates and will be ready for guests as soon as restrictions in Myrtle Beach are lifted.
The pandemic, however, might be the least of Doc Antle's problems if any of the claims in Tiger King can be or are officially substantiated. He may end up facing his own prison sentence in the end, if those claims can be proven.
Despite the obviously negative public opinion though, Antle continues to run his big cat reserve and tour at the Myrtle Beach business and while it's shut down for now, because of the Coronavirus, before long it'll be up and running again. Right or wrong, Doc Antle will continue to use his beautiful cats and a beautiful elephant named Bubbles to draw in big crowds and life will move on as it always does.