Early last year, Tiger King season 1 captivated millions of viewers who were stuck at home with its wild, tabloid-style documentation of the never-ending clashes between several big-cat-owning zookeepers across the United States. Fans of the show passionately displayed their feelings about each of the subjects of the series, turning some into national heroes and others into public enemies. This season provides additional information about the events that were introduced in the first season, and the new material may cause viewers to reconsider the opinions they had previously formed.

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While the Tiger King's first season was relatively balanced between comedic events and heavier subject matter, this season mostly stayed in dark and serious territory, perhaps a necessary change for some fans to see the reality of what occurs in this industry.

Team Tiger Attempted To Get Trump's Attention At The Capitol

team tiger arriving in DC to obtain a pardon

After the first season shared the story of Joe Exotic heading to prison for conspiracy to murder Carole Baskin (among over a dozen other crimes), many extreme fans began a movement to get his 22-year sentence pardoned by President Trump. Eric Love, a millionaire who has never met Joe, and other members of the "Team Tiger" campaign to free Joe from prison saw what they thought was the perfect opportunity to finally get Trump’s attention by heading to the Capitol on January 6th, 2021. The group spent thousands on decals, jets, buses, and other forms of advertising for their cause, but their effort was obviously overshadowed by the insurrection that took place that day, and they were ultimately unsuccessful.

Tragic Details About Joe Exotic’s Childhood Were Revealed

b roll of joe's family

Previously, in magazine interviews as well as the first season of Tiger King, Joe Exotic discussed his relationship with his father, recalling how he and his siblings were treated like farmhands instead of children. This season, Joe and his brother, Yarri Schreibvogel, provided details about how they were physically and psychologically abused by their father while growing up on their childhood farm. Schreibvogel recalled witnessing his father horribly abuse animals in order to mentally scar his sons, and Joe claimed his father even tried to drown one of his brothers. While this history does not excuse any of Joe’s crimes or behavior, it does help provide viewers with a better understanding of who Joe is as a person rather than the caricature of him that is often presented.

An Attorney Presents Evidence That Don Lewis Was Not Killed In 1997

photo of don lewis before his disappearance in 1997

Partially due to the information presented in season 1, many viewers believed that Carole Baskin killed her ex-husband, Don Lewis. In the newest season, Lewis’s former attorney, Joseph Fritz, revealed that a government official had let it slip that there was evidence that Lewis was still alive and well. Fritz was able to obtain a Department of Homeland Security document that stated Lewis owns property in Costa Rica and has loaned money to individuals since his disappearance.

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What was shown of this document onscreen did not include a date, but since the DHS was created in 2002, the information must’ve been discovered since then. This newly shared evidence was surely a shock to viewers and enemies of Baskin who were completely convinced that she killed Lewis in 1997.

The Extent Of Don Lewis’s Alleged Illegal Activity In Costa Rica

don lewis working at big cat rescue before his disappearance

According to Rey Rodriguez, a former associate of Lewis’s in Costa Rica, Lewis would fly from Florida to Costa Rica and back in his private plane, even after his pilot’s license was revoked. Rodriguez shared more about Lewis’s alleged violations, ranging from money laundering and arms trafficking to child sex tourism, or travel to a foreign country to have sexual relations with someone under the age of 18, which understandably appalled many viewers. Some who worked with Lewis overseas stated that if he is no longer alive, it is possible that he was killed by someone related to one of the underage girls he was allegedly taking advantage of.

Sandra Wittkopp Claimed Someone Forged Her Signature on Don Lewis’s Will

sandra wittkopp's allegedly forged signature

When the Lewis family hired attorney John Phillips, one of his first actions was to open a tip line to receive information about the disappearance of Don Lewis. Sandra Wittkopp, Baskin and Lewis’s former housekeeper, called in with a tip, claiming that her signature was forged on legal documents such as Don Lewis’s will. Jerry Mitchell, an investigative reporter, stated that the signatures on the will are too similar to pre-existing signatures and must be tracings. If true, this claim would be compelling evidence for those who believe Baskin was involved in Lewis’s disappearance. However, Baskin shared that three different firms have analyzed and confirmed the validity of Lewis’s will, contradicting Wittkopp’s claims.

A Psychic Investigator Attempted To Communicate With Don Lewis

donna pettis comforts her psychic investigator

Desperate to determine what happened to their father, the daughters of Don Lewis hired psychic investigator Troy Griffin to communicate with Lewis's spirit. Immediately, Griffin became physically ill, coughing and vomiting as he walked around the property where their father was last seen. He then informed the daughters that he was entirely certain that their father was murdered in the location they examined and referenced an empty chicken container lying on the ground as proof of his clairvoyance – he says he had been talking about chicken “all day” before arriving on the property. The Lewis family was distraught by Griffin’s findings, but he had the strongest reaction to the experience as the investigation ended with the eldest Lewis daughter, Donna Pettis, comforting Griffin as the two sat on a curb.

Former GW Zoo Employees Divulged The Meaning Of "Code 69"

jeff and lauren lowe and sarah nicole lying together

Former employees of Jeff Lowe (Joe Exotic’s former business partner turned enemy) revealed that there was a company-wide secret radio code used to alert the owners when an attractive woman would come into the GW Zoo: Code 69. According to former workers and volunteers, Jeff and his wife Lauren would seek out naive and vulnerable young women who were interested in working with animals and would instead attempt to use them as personal “toys.”

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One of these women, Ashley Webster, claimed in the documentary that Joe Exotic offered to pay her to kill Carole Baskin. While some may argue that Joe was only joking, Webster did not take it as a joke and called Baskin to warn her, sparking the entire murder-for-hire investigation.

Tim Stark's Horrible Treatment Of Animals Brought To Light

tim stark ranting to investigative journalists

Many critics ofTiger King Season 1 disliked that the show focused almost entirely on the lives of the owners and did little to promote the welfare of the animals being exploited. While the second season still centered heavily on the feuds between the various zoo and wildlife sanctuary owners, it also included a critical look at how some zoo owners, such as Tim Stark, horribly abuse their animals, and the actions that PETA and the US government take to stop them. When Stark agreed to open a zoo with Jeff Lowe, he attempted to move over a hundred of his animals from Indiana to Oklahoma using a trailer with a broken air conditioner. This negligence caused over 30 of his animals to die. Additionally, his declawing of show tigers was also shown in a negative light, and later, following a lawsuit from PETA, the government investigated his Charlestown Zoo and seized all of his animals.

Jeff Lowe Admitted To Committing Perjury And Switched To "Team Joe"

Jeff and Lauren Lowe meet with lawyer John Phillips

In season 2, episode 4, Allen Glover claimed that Jeff Lowe used him as a pawn to set up Joe Exotic. Jeff Lowe accused Allen of lying and stated that he had nothing to gain from Joe being imprisoned. However, when Lowe’s new zoo in Thackerville, Oklahoma was on the verge of being shut down by the government, he changed his story. After 68 of his animals were seized, he decided to side with Joe, revealed hidden government documents surrounding the case, admitted to committing perjury during the initial trial, and claimed that government officials entrapped him in order to get to Joe. One of Joe Exotic’s lawyers, John Phillips, shared that he believes this information is grounds for a retrial that could significantly reduce Joe’s sentence.

Allen Glover Claimed He And Jeff Lowe Intended To Kill Joe Exotic

allen glover holding the wire intended to kill joe exotic

In what was perhaps the most surprising moment of the season, Allen Glover revealed in his affidavit that it was actually Joe Exotic, not Carole Baskin, that he and Jeff Lowe had arranged to murder. To prove the legitimacy of this claim, Glover showed the camera crew a wire strewn across a path at the GW Zoo that was intended to be strung up before Joe would do his daily four-wheeler ride, decapitating him as he rode past. This shocking admission provided yet another version of events for viewers to consider when trying to determine what really happened with Joe Exotic and the murder-for-hire plots.

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