Ryan Easley, owner of Growler Pines Tiger Preserve, a roadside zoo in Oklahoma, was reportedly killed by one of his tigers over the weekend. Easley housed at least 10 tigers and previously ran ShowMe Tigers, a traveling circus act that toured across the U.S.
An undercover investigator for Humane World for Animals spent several weeks in 2017 working and traveling with Easley’s ShowMe Tigers, exposing the violent training involved in tiger entertainment acts. Public records obtained by Humane World for Animals documented that Easley acquired young tigers from infamous roadside zoo operators Bhagavan “Doc” Antle and Joseph Maldonado, known as “Joe Exotic.” Easley also reportedly housed tigers at Maldonado’s facility during the off-season, as did other circus exhibitors.
Easley’s death, along with a string of other deaths and injuries, demonstrates how dangerous it is to keep tigers and other big cats in captivity for entertainment. A shocking investigation by Humane World for Animals documented eight of Easley’s tigers being forced to perform tricks for Carden Circus and Shrine circuses, which often contract with exhibitors like Easley to provide animal acts. Among other cruel findings, the investigator recorded a practice session in which Easley whipped a traumatized tiger 31 times in less than two minutes because she refused to step down from a pedestal.
“Ryan Easley’s death was a sad and preventable tragedy, and we hope it serves as a reminder of the danger and cruelty for other operators who still use dangerous wild animals for entertainment. We saw firsthand the violence Easley used to force frightened, stressed animals to perform in circus shows,” said Laura Hagen, director of captive wildlife for Humane World for Animals. “Tigers in circuses and roadside shows suffer lifelong fear and stress. On the road, Easley confined tigers to small, barren transport cages half the size of a parking space, a practice other circus exhibitors continue today.”
Hagen said that when Easley moved the tigers permanently to his roadside zoo, Growler Pines, in 2021, the tigers faced just as much cruelty, still forced to do tricks and entertain the paying public. “No animal deserves to be treated this way, and we call on the public to stop supporting such cruelty,” she said. “The archaic use of wild animals at circuses, fairs, and roadside zoos has no place in our world.”
Easley’s death is the latest in a list of dozens of fatalities and injuries caused by wild animals used in traveling acts and circus-style performances. In 1997, a tiger killed trainer Wayne Franzen in front of 200 schoolchildren during a circus performance. Franzen’s son, Brian Franzen, continues to exhibit wild animals in circuses today. In 2010, an elephant attacked and killed a handler between performances at a Shrine circus.
Acts like these also endanger the public. In 2013, a woman came face to face with a tiger in a restroom after the animal escaped following a performance at a Shrine circus. In 2017, a tiger was spotted on an interstate, along a school bus route, and in a residential area where she was ultimately shot and killed by police after she attacked a dog in a backyard. The tiger had escaped during transport ahead of a planned shipment to Europe after performing for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
Humane World for Animals urges the public to avoid shows that force wild animals to perform. The abusive training behind the scenes puts both people and animals at serious risk.
