Lion’s Share of Tigers Seized from Home Near Vegas Bred by ‘Tiger King’

Posted on: April 3, 2025, 01:40h. 

Last updated on: April 3, 2025, 03:05h.

Corey Levitan Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas, Restaurants, Las Vegas Myths.
  • Authorities seized seven tigers from a home in Parhump, Nev. on Wednesday
  • Five of the animals were bred by Joe Exotic, who starred in the Netflix series “Tiger King”
  • The home’s owner was arrested on multiple charges, including keeping tigers without a permit; the animals were sent to a sanctuary out of state

At least five of the seven tigers rescued from a private home near Las Vegas on Wednesday were bred by Joe Exotic, the star of the hit Netflix reality show “Tiger King.”

Joe Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, ran a roadside zoo and bred big cats for profit before his 2020 conviction for animal abuse and a murder-for-hire plot. (Image: Netflix)

The tigers were seized on Wednesday from Karl Mitchell’s Pahrump residence by Nye County Animal Control, and Mitchell, 71, was arrested by the county sheriff for resisting a peace officer during the raid. While Mitchell was taken to Nye County Detention Center, the tigers were transported to an unnamed sanctuary out of state.

Records indicate that Mitchell, who operated the Big Cat Encounters Ranch on the property, obtained five of his tigers from Joe Exotic’s Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park in Oklahoma as recently as 2018. Nye County Sheriff Joe McGill told KSNV-TV/Las Vegas that Mitchell kept and bred tigers without a permit for at least the past two years.

Karl Mitchell poses with a tiger he named Buk in a promotional photo for his Big Cat Encounters website, which was taken down earlier this year. (Image: bigcatecounters.org)

According to McGill, the owner of the home called his office when Mitchell, a tenant, wouldn’t allow him to inspect the premises in the midst of eviction proceedings.

Cat’s Out of the Bag

Astonishingly, Mitchell served as director of Nye County Animal Control for 18 months from 2000 to 2001.

While holding that position, he was charged with 14 offenses, including the theft of animals and county resources. Though some of the charges were dismissed, he was sentenced to three years in prison in 2004 for offenses allegedly committed during his tenure.

In April 2001, according to the nonprofit animal activist website animals24-7.org, the USDA Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service also fined Mitchell $27,500 — then the maximum — for repeated violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act,  and revoked his permits to exhibit exotic cats.

A tiger awaits relocation at Mitchell’s ranch on Wednesday. (Image: Facebook/Nye County Sheriff’s Office)

“Of all the despicable animal exhibitors PETA has encountered, Karl Mitchell — who thumbs his nose at public safety and the law every time he exhibits a tiger — is one of the worst,” said Delcianna Winders, PETA Foundation director of captive animal law enforcement, in a 2013 statement.

Mitchell’s license to house the animals was previously revoked by the federal government, but in 2019 he won an appeal with the Nye County Commission to keep 10 exotic cats at his Pahrump ranch legally, after claiming they were therapy animals Animals 24-7 reported, a claim he repeated during a jailhouse interview on Wednesday.

“I’m a 100 percent disabled veteran with PTSD,” Mitchell told KSNV. “The VA and my doctors have approved the tigers to work as support animals.”

Mitchell added: “Those animals were not in danger or any jeopardy. The animals did not deserve to be snatched up, knocked out with drugs shipped across the country when they were happy and content where they had lived for more than 10 years.”