‘The Tiger King’ comes full circle: Carole Baskin awarded rival Joe Exotic’s zoo

Carole Baskin has been awarded the zoo once owned by Joe Exotic, her longstanding rival. Their feud was a center point in the viral documentary “Tiger King.”

What’s going on:

• A judge awarded Baskin’s Big Cat Rescue Corporation the zoo in a lawsuit against the Greater Wynnewood Development Group, LLC., according to Courthouse News.
• Exotic — real name Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage — once owned the Wynnewood group, according to Courthouse News.
• Baskin now has control of 16 acres of land in Garvin County, Oklahoma, that currently serves as home to big cats and exotic animals.
• The Wynnewood group must “vacate the Zoo Land premises within 120 days of service of this Order ... Vacation of premises shall also require removal of all zoo animals from the Zoo Land,” the court order said, per CNN.
• Cabins and vehicles at the location were also awarded to Baskin.

Why did she win it?

• Baskin won a trademark infringement lawsuit against Maldonado-Passage in 2011. Maldonado-Passage was ordered to pay $1 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
• In 2016, Baskin filed a lawsuit that said Maldonado-Passage transferred the zoo to his mother to avoid creditors. The judge ruled this week the zoo should be given to Baskin.
• The attorney for Jeff Lowe, the current owner, told CNN the decision was not unexpected.