![\"Ryan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/8c278e6e-077e-43f5-9444-49ba42646dfd.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\u201cIn a split-second everything was OK, and then the tiger grabbed him and started biting him around the neck area and shoulder area\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Ryan Easley (37) died at the Growler Pines Tiger Preserve on Saturday after one of the big cats suddenly started to bite him while the two were inside a large cage.<\/p>\n
Easley who was linked to \u2018Tiger King\u2019 Joe Exotic died just minutes after dispatchers received an emergency call, Choctaw county sheriff, Terry Park, said.<\/p>\n
Park told The New York Times: \u201cIn a split-second everything was OK, and then the tiger grabbed him and started biting him around the neck area and shoulder area.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ryan Easley with some of the big cats<\/p>\n
News in 90 Seconds – September 23rd <\/p>\n
When Mr. Easley fell to the ground after the attack, the tiger backed away and Mr. Easley\u2019s wife went into the cage and moved the tiger to another cage, Sheriff Park said.<\/p>\n
The Growler Pines Tiger Preserve in Hugo said in a statement that the tragedy \u201cis a painful reminder of both the beauty and unpredictability of the natural world\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cRyan understood those risks \u2014 not out of recklessness but out of love. The animals under his care were not just animals to him, but beings he formed a connection with \u2014 one rooted in respect, daily care and love.\u201d<\/p>\n
The preserve praised him as a \u201cpassionate advocate for wildlife conservation,\u201d who especially loved big cats and dedicated his life to the care of animals.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis courage, compassion and unwavering commitment to wildlife will never be forgotten,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n
The preserve, which offers guided tours and training demonstrations, has suspended all visits until further notice.<\/p>\n
In a statement, the animal protection group PETA said that \u201cit\u2019s never safe for humans to interact directly with apex predators.\u201d<\/p>\n
The organisation called for wild animal exhibitors to \u201cget out of the business now and send the animals to accredited sanctuaries where they can finally live in peace.\u201d<\/p>\n
PETA said Easley had acquired tigers from “associate” Joe Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado, and Bhagavan \u2018Doc\u2019 Antle, also a star of the Netflix series.<\/p>\n
Joe Exotic who is serving a 21-year prison sentence after being convicted of plotting the murder of animal rights activist Carole Baskin \u2014 wrote in a lengthy tribute to Easley: \u201cNo one can blame the tiger for what happened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all take risk in what we do and we don\u2019t need further laws to ban tigers because of this because you can get killed doing just about anything. Driving down the road, going to school or church or speaking at a University.\u201d<\/p>\n
He wrote that Easley had \u201cbuilt a large compound on the back side of my zoo to house his tigers\u201d about 15 years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo with all my respect as a human RIP Ryan Easley,\u201d the statement adds. \u201cYou died doing what you loved.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cIn a split-second everything was OK, and then the tiger grabbed him and started biting him around the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47813,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[246,61,60,82],"class_list":["post-47812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47812"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47812\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}