10-02-2025
Virginia court overturns pair of felony convictions against Tiger King star ‘Doc' Antle
HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — Tiger King star Bhagavan 'Doc' Antle scored a legal win last week after the Virginia Court of Appeals tossed a pair of felony convictions — but the Myrtle Beach-based wildlife handler still faces multiple federal charges.
Antle, owner of Myrtle Beach Safari and star of two Netflix documentaries in 2020 and 2021, was convicted in June 2023 on two counts each of purchasing an endangered species and conspiracy to sell or purchase an endangered species.
Antle's lawyers argued that his conviction of purchasing lion cubs was due to a misunderstanding of a Virginia statute that prohibits the sale of endangered species but not their purchase.
Antle-updateDownload
A jury acquitted Antle of five counts of animal cruelty and Judge Alexander Iden dismissed four additional animal cruelty charges against Antle and all charges against his two adult daughters, The Winchester Star reported.
Prosecutor Michelle Welch said during Antle's trial that his lucrative petting zoo motivated him to maintain a steady supply of immature lion cubs that he purchased from Keith Wilson's Wild Animal Park near Winchester, calling the arrangement a 'cub pipeline' from Virginia to South Carolina.
When Antle and Wilson began doing business in 2015, it was still legal to buy and sell lions, Welch said. But after lions were designated as an endangered species in December 2015, lions could only be traded between zoos and wildlife preserves that were part of an established breeding program and had permits. There were three illegal cub exchanges in 2017, 2018 and 2019, Welch said.
Antle has also pleaded guilty on the federal level for conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act and conspiracy to launder money. The Lacey Act prohibits trafficking of illegally taken wildlife, fish or plants, including animals protected under the Endangered Species Act.
The Virgina Court of Appeals upheld Antle's convictions for conspiracy to sell an endangered species.
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