Doc Antle

Writing in Variety, Rebecca Rubin states, "Antle has ties to Hollywood, having worked as an animal expert on films like "Dr. Dolittle" and "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective." He appeared frequently on late night talk shows and also provided creatures for movies including "The War," "Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book," "Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls," "Mighty Joe Young" and "The Jungle Book 2."[21] Antle was credited as a "principal animal trainer" in the 1994 and 1995 Ace Ventura films, a "trainer" in the 1994 and 1997 Jungle Book films and as an animal trainer in Mighty Joe Young.[6]

In 2001, Antle was on stage with Britney Spears during her performance of "I'm a Slave 4 U" at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards, which featured a caged tiger and a large albino python draped over Spears' shoulders.[21] In 2008, Suryia and Roscoe, an orangutan and an orphaned blue tick hound which had formed an unusual relationship at Antle's zoo, appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show in Chicago.[22][23]

Antle was fined by the USDA for abandoning deer and peacocks at his zoo in Buckingham, Virginia in 1989. In total, Antle has more than 35 USDA violations for mistreating animals.[5] Joe Exotic, who operated the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park, accused Antle of killing tigers in gas chambers to make space for further breeding.[26] Antle delivered seven tigers to the Samut Prakan zoo in Thailand, which is a zoo that has faced allegations of keeping animals in terrible conditions.[27]

Antle runs a charity called Rare Species Fund, which is dedicated towards protecting animals living in the wild. However, former employees of Antle have claimed that much of the charity's donations are funneled back to Antle.[11]

In late December 2019, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources and Horry County Police Department raided Doc Antle's Myrtle Beach Safari. Antle told media at the time that this was for DNA testing lions for a multi-state investigation.[28]

In 2020, Antle was reported as being investigated by the United States Department of Agriculture and the United States Department of Justice for the illegal sale of big cats including tigers.[29]

Antle was indicted in October 2020 by a grand jury in Frederick County, Virginia, after a months-long investigation by the Animal Law Unit of the Virginia Attorney General. The charges included felony wildlife trafficking as well as misdemeanor animal cruelty and violations of the Endangered Species Act of 1973.[3][30] Prosecutors said that Antle carried or caused the lions to be carried in a “cruel, brutal, or inhumane manner, so as to produce torture or unnecessary suffering.”[31] A trial date was set for July 2022.[9][31]

On June 21, 2023, Virginia prosecutors announced that a jury had convicted Antle of four total felony counts: two felony counts of wildlife trafficking and two felony counts of conspiring to wildlife traffic. Each count is punishable with up to 20 years in prison. He was found not guilty of nine misdemeanor charges. A sentencing hearing was set for September 14, 2023.[32] At the hearing, the judge did not render a decision regarding Antle's sentence.[14] On October 3, 2023, Antle was fined $10,000 and banned for five years from "possessing, trading or interacting with wild animals" in Virginia.[15] He also received a suspended two-year prison sentence.[33]

Antle was arrested on June 3, 2022, by the FBI and booked into jail for charges related to money laundering.[12][13] He also faces charges relating to illegally trafficking animals, including leopards, cheetahs and a chimpanzee, in violation of the Endangered Species Act of 1973.[34]

Former employees of Antle's zoo, Myrtle Beach Safari, have accused him of using the zoo to create a cult-like following around him.[35][36] Antle has expressed expectations that his employees must see the zoo as more than a workplace, as it is an all encompassing lifestyle.[35] Antle has required female employees to be single, childless, to abstain from eating meat, and to wear certain clothing and weigh within 20 pounds of their "perfect athletic weight."[35][4] Writing for PopMatters, John Glover described Antle's operation as one where "staff is comprised of women who were groomed as teenagers for polygamy", an environment which Antle himself describes as a "complex lifestyle".[37]

Barbara Fisher, a former employee of T.I.G.E.R.S. who worked with Antle from 1999 to 2007, stated that she was pressured to get breast implants while working at the facility[38] and that several employees legally changed their names under the direction of Antle.[39] In the Netflix show, Tiger King: The Doc Antle Story, Antle's former partner, Sumati Steinberg, alleges that when she tried to leave, Antle abused her by choking her until she passed out and breaking two of her ribs.[10] Antle's second wife, Radha Hirsch, claims that she met Antle when she was just 11 years-old much to the chagrin of her mother, who attempted to end their relationship three years later when it became sexual.[10] However, soon after, Antle picked Hirsch up from school and she ran off to live with him.[10]

Antle has criticized the accusations against him and his facility, specifically calling Fisher's claims "ramblings" and saying she has "issues and somehow those have boiled up".[40][41][42]