Animals are quietly disappearing from Tiger King Park

Jeff and Lauren Lowe. Shared from Instagram.

Jeff and Lauren Lowe are back in town and the animals that remain at Tiger King Park are quietly disappearing.

Last week, officials confiscated all of the remaining big cats from the park and moved them to accredited sanctuaries. They were only authorized to remove the big cats because they’re protected by the Endangered Species Act. More than 60 non-endangered animals were left behind.

Jeff and Lauren left the park and no one knew when they would return. Two employees were in charge of caring for the animals and they were starting to run low on food.

Love County Sheriff Marty Grisham issued a statement about Tiger King Park today:

"We, the Love County Sheriff's Office, have checked on all the animals at the park along with the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife. My office has been there a couple of times to check on the wildlife there. We have found the animals to have been and [are] being fed and watered daily. The food commissary has food in it and the animals on the property look good. The owners of the property are at the park along with some employees and they all are taking care of the animals."

The animal welfare group SHARK (SHowing Animals Respect and Kindness) was at the park again this week obtaining drone footage to monitor the care and treatment of the animals.

SHARK President Steve Hindi said many of the animals his group had monitored the previous week have slowly begun to disappear.

“Quite a few animals were gone, including emus, sheep, goats [and] tortoises,” Hindi said. “The remaining [animals] included the camel, some small cats, wolves [and] primates.”

Hindi said his group saw Jeff and Lauren on the property this week and they saw a couple of individuals providing care to the animals, “...although I cannot speak to the quality of the care,” he said.

Hindi said Jeff is disposing of animals in a way he finds advantageous to him.

“Obviously the animals' welfare is of no concern to him,” he said.

One of the animals that remains at the property is a red fox that is dying of cancer. A veterinarian has recommended the fox be humanely euthanized. In drone footage obtained by SHARK, the fox appears to still be alive.

“So long as there is even one animal on that property, I have great concern,” Hindi said.

Jeff and Lauren are due back in court June 11.