Age, Biography, and Wiki
Date of Birth: March 5, 1963
Age (as of 2025): 62 years old
Place of Birth: Garden City, Kansas, USA
Joe Exotic became famous for his flamboyant persona and as the longtime operator of the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park in Oklahoma. He was convicted on federal charges including animal abuse and murder-for-hire in 2019 and received a 22-year prison sentence. Despite his incarceration, his fame has persisted due to his charismatic, controversial, and often polarizing public image.
| Occupation | Media Personalities |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 5 March 1963 |
| Age | 62 Years |
| Birth Place | Garden City, Kansas, U.S. |
| Horoscope | Pisces |
| Country | U.S |
Height, Weight & Measurements
While exact, up-to-date measurements are not officially published, Joe Exotic is commonly reported to be approximately 5 feet 11 inches tall. His weight and other measurements are not widely reported, though he is known for his distinctive, colorful appearance and style.
| Height | 5 feet 11 inches |
| Weight | |
| Body Measurements | |
| Eye Color | |
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Dating & Relationship Status
Joe Exotic has been married multiple times, including to two men simultaneously (John Finlay and Travis Maldonado) prior to Maldonado’s death. As of 2025, there is no publicly available information confirming his current relationship status due to his ongoing incarceration. His personal life remains a subject of media interest, but privacy restrictions in federal prison limit the flow of new details.
Exotic has been subject to substantial criticism, especially for the controversies surrounding his feud with Baskin and the treatment of animals at the G.W. Zoo. Exotic has been featured in several documentaries, including the Netflix series Tiger King (2020–2021), a documentary about Exotic's career as a zookeeper and his feud with Baskin. The success of the first season of Tiger King amid the worldwide COVID-19 lockdowns led to Exotic receiving attention on social media and inspiring several internet memes. Exotic also appeared in two Louis Theroux documentaries, America's Most Dangerous Pets (2011) and Shooting Joe Exotic (2021). A drama TV show based mainly on the relationship between Carole Baskin and Joe Exotic called Joe vs. Carole aired on Peacock on March 3, 2022.
The Schreibvogel family moved to Texas, where Exotic was enrolled at Pilot Point High School. After graduating from high school, he joined the Eastvale police department and was promoted to chief of the small department in 1982. He was outed to his parents as being homosexual by his estranged older brother Yarri, and in response their father made Exotic shake his hand and promise not to come to his funeral. Exotic has said that he was badly injured in 1985 when he crashed his police cruiser into a bridge, although his claims about the wreck have changed over time: In 2019, he told Texas Monthly that the incident was a spontaneous suicide attempt, but he told The Dallas Morning News in 1997 that he was forced off the road by an unidentified vehicle during a drug investigation. A 2019 investigation by New York magazine, which included interviews of family members and local residents who knew him at the time, failed to find anyone who could recall such an event taking place, although he presented a photograph showing a wrecked car as evidence.
Exotic returned to Texas and worked at various jobs before opening a pet shop with his brother "G.W.", who shared Exotic's love of animals, in Arlington, Texas, in 1986. In 1997, after closing the first pet shop and opening a new one nearby, Exotic came into conflict with Arlington officials over repeated code violations for decorations and signs: He had been hanging gay pride symbols such as a United States flag with rainbow stripes in the shop windows, and he accused city inspectors of homophobia and of targeting the business because of his sexual orientation. In 1997, his brother was killed in an auto accident, and Exotic sold the pet shop and purchased a 16 acre Oklahoma farm with his parents. Two years after his brother's death, the farm opened as Garold Wayne Exotic Animal Memorial Park in dedication to his brother. Two of Wayne's pets were the zoo's first inhabitants.
From 2014 to 2018, Exotic occasionally worked as a professional wrestling commentator and hosted two wrestling programs at the G.W. Zoo. Exotic's involvement with wrestling began when he met Texas businessman and pro wrestling promoter Robert Langdon at the G.W. Zoo's "Monkey Ball" charity event in 2010. They bonded over their ownership of exotic animals, and Exotic began to provide color commentary at NWA Texoma events, which would be streamed on the JoeExoticTV YouTube channel. Langdon walked Exotic down the aisle for his marriage to former husband Dillon Passage.
Baskin's second husband, Don Lewis, disappeared in 1997 and was declared legally dead in 2002. Evidence of foul play is lacking and Baskin was never named as a suspect; however, Lewis's daughter says that Baskin killed Lewis and fed his body to her tigers, and Exotic used his YouTube show to promote this theory and others relating to Lewis's disappearance, offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to Baskin's arrest.
In 2015, Exotic's mother Shirley was sued by Big Cat Rescue over assets that belonged to Exotic or the G.W. Zoo being transferred into and out of her name. In May 2020, the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma ruled that Exotic fraudulently transferred ownership of the park to his mother to avoid paying debts resulting from the earlier settlement, awarding ownership to Baskin and giving Exotic's former business partner Jeff Lowe until October 1 to vacate the premises. Baskin decided to sell the park with deed restrictions prohibiting the keeping of exotic animals. Lowe relocated the animals to Thackerville, Oklahoma, intending to open a new park there, but the U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit citing Lowe's history of poor animal care; the new park never opened and federal authorities seized all remaining cats in May 2021.
With the exception of his brother Garold, Exotic did not have a good relationship with his family; in particular his estranged brother Yarri has been very critical of him, believing that he manipulated the Schreibvogel family to take the money from Garold's death for himself. Exotic's niece Chealsi Putman, who worked at the G.W. Zoo periodically from 1999 to 2017, also criticized him. In April 2021, Putman was interviewed by Louis Theroux for Shooting Joe Exotic and claimed that the tigers Exotic shot were not sick.
After the success of the first season of Tiger King, Exotic began to receive a large amount of fan mail. Cardi B attempted to start a GoFundMe to help get Exotic out of prison. Exotic also inspired several Internet memes, most of which were based on his quotes in Tiger King. He also inspired the ongoing "Free Joe Exotic" campaign, started by fans who believed he was wrongly convicted. On March 31, 2020, Donald Trump Jr. posted two Exotic memes to Instagram, the first featuring a face merge of his father Donald Trump with Exotic, and the second featuring Joe Biden's head photoshopped over an image of Exotic with a tiger.
His first known male partner was Brian Rhyne, who died of complications from HIV in 2001. The following year, he started a relationship with Jeffrey Charles 'JC' Hartpence, an event manager who aided him with his traveling animal show. In mid 2003, John Finlay was hired as an employee of the G.W. Zoo and within a month began a relationship with Exotic. By this point, the relationship between Exotic and Hartpence had deteriorated owing to drug and alcohol addiction. It finally ended after Exotic threatened to kill Hartpence and feed his remains to the zoo's largest tiger. Hartpence later woke Exotic up by putting a gun to his head, an action that led to Hartpence's arrest by the local authorities. Hartpence was later convicted of child molestation and first-degree murder.
Travis Maldonado arrived at the zoo in December 2013 and, like Finlay, soon began a relationship with Exotic. Exotic, Maldonado, and Finlay were unofficially married to each other less than a month later in a three-partner wedding ceremony. Exotic and Finlay eventually fell out, and following an incident in the zoo's car park Finlay was arrested and charged with assault and battery. In 2015, Exotic legally wed Maldonado and his legal name became Joseph Maldonado.
Exotic married Dillon Passage on December 11 of the same year; one of the witnesses was Travis Maldonado's mother. Upon his marriage to Passage, Exotic's legal surname became Maldonado-Passage. According to Passage, Exotic prevented him from making friends at the G.W. Zoo, and also prevented him from spending time with his mother and cousin.
On March 26, Passage revealed on Instagram that he and Exotic were seeking a divorce, but on good terms and that he would continue to have Exotic in his life. Passage announced in July 2021 that he was now in a relationship with a man closer to his age named John. Exotic initially wished the couple well, but stated that he would have liked to have been told by Passage himself rather than TMZ. He later referred to Passage as "a dumbass", and blocked him on Instagram and Twitter following Passage releasing a video exposing Exotic's abusive and controlling behavior during their relationship, where he stated he felt like "another animal in a cage." Exotic and Passage's divorce was finalized in January 2023.
| Parents | |
| Husband | Travis Maldonado (m. 2015-2017) Dillon Passage (m. 2017-2023) Jorge Flores (m. 2025) |
| Sibling | |
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Net Worth and Salary
At the height of his career, Joe Exotic was worth between $10 million and $15 million, largely from his ownership of the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park and related ventures. However, legal troubles, lawsuits, business failures, and incarceration have drastically impacted his fortune. As of 2024 and into 2025, Joe Exotic’s net worth is estimated to be negative, with some sources reporting around −$1 million to −$1.2 million due to unresolved debts and legal judgments.
While imprisoned, Joe Exotic has earned some income from merchandise and licensing deals related to his fame. For example, in 2020 he earned approximately $20,000 from a clothing line called "Revenge," which sold out quickly. However, such earnings are minor compared to his outstanding financial liabilities.
In 2002, seeking to earn money to feed his growing menagerie, Exotic partnered with a traveling magician to provide and handle tigers during stage illusions. The experience taught Exotic that traveling magic shows could be lucrative, and after parting with the magician, he began staging shows himself and adopted "Joe Exotic" as his stage name. He soon found that attendees would pay to pet and have their picture taken with tiger cubs, and these activities were often more profitable than the magic show itself. His magic shows evolved into dedicated cub-petting events and he began breeding his cats to ensure that cubs were consistently available. The money he earned allowed him to increase the number of adult cats at his park and feed them. To benefit his stage persona, Exotic began behaving more flamboyantly, wearing flashy clothing and jewelry and adopting his trademark bleached mullet hairstyle.
In May 2021, Exotic launched a cryptocurrency to raise revenue for his defense fund as well as charity incentives personal to him. In June 2021, Exotic launched an NFT auction as part of a collaboration with a cryptocurrency organization. Exotic also intended to send real-life collectibles, including one of his revolvers.
The feud between Exotic and Carole Baskin began in 2009 when Baskin, who sought to end commercial cub petting in the United States, targeted Exotic's lucrative traveling shows. While Exotic and the Wynnewood park had been subject to protests and investigations by animal rights organizations such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, these efforts had been sporadic and poorly organized and did not seriously hamper his business. Baskin's Big Cat Rescue organization—which had a very popular Facebook page and many informal volunteers recruited on social media—proved more daunting. Big Cat Rescue volunteers began to track Exotic's movements and email bomb managers of shopping malls that hosted his shows, prompting many of them to cancel, which jeopardized his income.
Career, Business, and Investments
- Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park: Long the centerpiece of his career, this zoo featured exotic animals and became famous for its tiger cub petting tours and traveling shows.
- Music and Merchandising: Joe Exotic released several country music albums and sold themed merchandise, some of which generated significant income during the peak of his popularity.
- Reality TV and Media: The Tiger King documentary series on Netflix propelled him to international fame and led to various media appearances and merchandise deals.
- Legal Troubles and Bankruptcy: Multiple lawsuits, including a $1 million judgment in a trademark dispute, and his criminal conviction led to the loss of his assets and business.
- Current Status: He remains incarcerated and is unable to directly manage or profit from new business ventures.
Exotic left the G.W. Zoo in June 2018 and was arrested three months later on suspicion of hiring two men to murder Big Cat Rescue founder Carole Baskin, with whom he had a complicated rivalry. In 2019, Exotic was convicted and sentenced to 22 years in prison on 17 federal charges of animal abuse and two counts of attempted murder for hire for the plot to kill Baskin. In 2021, he worked with attorney John Michael Phillips to file a motion for a new trial, and on July 15, 2021, a U.S. appeals court ruled that the convictions for the two murder attempts were wrongly treated as separate. The trial court reduced his sentence by 1 year, resentencing him to 21 years in late January 2022. In 2023, Exotic announced his candidacy in the 2024 presidential election as a Democrat.
In 2000, Exotic acquired his first two tigers, which had been abandoned. He said that the first animal rescue in his career as a zookeeper was an eleven-foot alligator with a severe eye infection. According to Exotic, he spoke by phone to Steve Irwin of Australia Zoo, whose vets provided advice on appropriate antibiotics for alligators and on treating an injured kangaroo. In 2006, after Irwin was killed by a stingray, Exotic dedicated a large indoor alligator complex inside the G.W. Zoo in his memory, naming it the Steve Irwin Memorial. Some of the alligators in the complex came from Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch.
As a result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Marshals Service, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement, and the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation Exotic was arrested and arraigned on charges of attempting to hire two hitmen to kill Baskin and of violating the Lacey Act and the Endangered Species Act. In April 2019, a federal jury found him guilty on two counts of hiring someone to murder Baskin in Florida, eight counts of violating the Lacey Act by falsifying wildlife records, and nine counts of violating the Endangered Species Act by killing five tigers and selling tigers across state lines. He was sentenced to 22 years in prison on January 22, 2020, and was incarcerated at Federal Medical Center, Fort Worth (FMC Fort Worth). In March 2020, Exotic filed a lawsuit against those he blamed for his arrest and conviction, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the lead prosecutor, a federal agent, and former business partner Jeff Lowe; he sought $94 million, he dropped the lawsuit five months later.
Exotic claims that after wrecking his police cruiser in 1985, he was confined to a hospital for over a month, and then spent several years in rehabilitation. He also stated to have had four heart attacks during his career as a zookeeper.
Social Network
While Joe Exotic is not allowed to run social media accounts himself while in prison, fan pages and unofficial accounts continue to share updates about him. He does not have verified, active social media profiles as of 2025.
Exotic worked as the owner and operator of the G.W. Zoo for over 20 years. He left the zoo on June 18, 2018, three months before his arrest. In 2021, Exotic stated that his whole outlook on animals in captivity has changed while he's been in jail, and he now believes that "no animal belongs in a cage". He also said that he never would have had a zoo if he had known what life inside a cage was like 20 years ago.
During his career as a zoo owner, Exotic was also an aspiring country music singer, although music credited to him was recorded by others. Under the pretense of obtaining music for a planned reality television series, Exotic commissioned country songs from other artists, with his creative contributions reportedly being limited to suggesting song topics and singing some backing vocals. He produced music videos for the songs and posted them on his YouTube channel, depicting himself as the main performer and taking full credit for the music, allegedly without having notified the actual artists. One of Exotic's best-known songs is "I Saw a Tiger", which was featured in Tiger King and has been covered by numerous bands and artists.
Exotic first appeared in Louis Theroux's 2011 documentary America's Most Dangerous Pets. Five years later, he appeared in J.D. Thompson's documentary The Life Exotic: Or the Incredible True Story of Joe Schreibvogel. Theroux stated that Exotic initially struck him as likeable and friendly, and that, owing to Exotic's emotional volatility, Theroux was inclined to be protective of him.
On November 12, 2024, Exotic replied to a fan on his verified Instagram account that he is an Independent voter. This comment was made on his post asking for his fans to fill out a form online so he would have a chance at being pardoned by the new president elect, Donald Trump.
Exotic saw Baskin's actions as hypocritical because she also operated an animal sanctuary that charged admission, albeit for nonprofit purposes. Exotic responded to Baskin's social media efforts by setting up his own TV studio and YouTube channel at the G.W. Zoo, hosting a nightly talk show that aired vitriolic attacks against Big Cat Rescue and Baskin personally. He covertly visited Big Cat Rescue in September 2010 and chartered a helicopter to survey the property. He obtained a copy of Baskin's diary stolen from her computer by a former employee and posted excerpts online.
On March 26, 2015, a fire broke out at the G.W. Zoo, destroying the Steve Irwin Memorial and Exotic's TV studio, where he shot his YouTube videos and stored footage for a planned reality series. All but one of the Neverland Ranch alligators were killed. The blaze was thought to have been started by an arsonist, possibly a vindictive employee, but no one was ever arrested. Exotic blamed animal rights activists for the incident, while Tiger King speculated that the perpetrator may have been Exotic himself or Rick Kirkham, the reality TV producer who worked with him.
Kirkham asserts that Exotic and zoo employees sought to destroy incriminating footage he had stored in the TV studio. Kirkham says that Exotic killed some of his own tigers, and that he had video of Exotic killing animals, but it was lost in the fire. During an interview, Kirkham remarked, "There was footage in there of Exotic actually killing animals for fun. In the course of my year, he walked up to a tiger he didn't like and just shot it in the head."
"″Jordan Travis was 6 years old when I became The Tiger King, it is my trademark, my intellectual property and I'm sick of others cashing in on my Trademark just because President Biden cares nothing about me being wrongfully in prison in America. I will give ANY ATTORNEY 80% of a settlement to sue Jordan Travis and ALL companies selling stuff using Tiger King. Time quarterbacks and anyone else in this country stops stealing from others, which attorney would like to take this multimillion dollar case? Until Jordan Travis walks in a cage with 20 full grown tigers and kisses them on the head, leave the Tiger King business to me.″"
On October 6, 2017, Travis Maldonado fatally shot himself at the zoo in front of Joshua Dial, who was Exotic's campaign manager at the time. In his memory, Exotic set up a charity called the Travis Maldonado Foundation, which claimed it would provide "no-cost resources for those struggling with meth addiction and gun-safety education." At Travis's memorial service at the G.W. Zoo, Exotic stated that God put Travis on Earth to make him smile and stated that Travis's testicles "were like golden nuggets" to Travis.
Education
Details about Joe Exotic’s formal education are scarce. Public records and interviews suggest he did not complete a college degree and instead focused early on animal breeding and business ventures. His career has been driven by entrepreneurial spirit rather than formal academic credentials.
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Born in Kansas, Exotic and his family moved to Texas, where he enrolled at Pilot Point High School. After graduation, Exotic briefly served as the chief of police in Eastvale. He then opened a pet store with his brother, but after his brother's death in 1997, Exotic sold the store and founded the G.W. Zoo. During his tenure as director there, he also held magic shows and cub-petting events at venues across the U.S., hosted an online talk show, and worked with producer Rick Kirkham to create a reality television series about himself, but this latter effort ended when most footage was destroyed in a fire in 2015. In 2016, Exotic ran as an independent in the 2016 presidential election, earning attention as a novelty candidate due to his eccentric persona and unconventional campaign style.
