Tiger King

They can be found for sale online pretty frequently.

 

DeYoung is a roadside zoo, all of their animals would be obtained through the private trade.

 

I can't speculate on what the poster there meant exactly, but it's also entirely possible for a tiger in private trade to be listed as Indochinese or Malayan and still just be a generic. I can't be 100% sure, of course, but the unlikelihood of subspecific tigers in legal, private US trade has been discussed on other parts of the forum before.

 

I understand this but pure Malayan should at least be considered as a possibility.

 

Okay then, it's a possibility - as is the zoo keeping Golden Jackal. Personally I'm skeptical of both notions.

 

I also highly doubt that DeYoung Family Zoo would have "Indochinese" as well, probably just labelling as a gimmick to draw in more crowds... it's unfortunately common for roadside zoos to mislabel animals on-purpose.

 

Just as many non-AZA zoos list their leopards as African leopards, even though there are no pure-blooded African leopard subspecies in this country that I know of. Of course even the largest and most reputable AZA facilities are prone to mistakes as well, as noted by this at San Diego Safari Park:

 

Can someone tell me what defines a roadside zoo? I know what it means, but I don’t know what privately-owned zoos would fall under that category. I know joe exotics ”zoo” would be considered one but I want to know before think about going to one.

 

I really don't think any roadside zoos are intentionally mislabeling animals, I suspect most just don't know what they actually have!

 

I suspect you are correct.

 

That is a legitimate question and it is sometimes hard to know unless you go in person (at which point you may regret going). There are definitely privately-run, non-accredited facilities that are good, a great example being my friends at Cat Haven who do more for conservation (relative to their size and budget) than probably any AZA facility. I have a feeling however they are the exception and not the rule. A good first step is to look on ZooChat and see if anyone (cough - @snowleopard - cough) has already visited and written a review.

 

I forgot to mention about AZA zoos as well doing this. Many zoos with generic giraffes do the same thing by coating them as "Reticulated" or "Rothschild/Baringo" giraffes, and AFAIK SeaWorld San Diego calls their hybrid short-beaked common X Atlantic bottlenose dolphin as simply a Short-beaked common dolphin as well.

 

When I visited Joe Exotic's zoo in 2015 there was a very blonde coyote in an unlabeled cage. I see coyotes all the time (literally in my backyard on more than a dozen occasions in the past two years) and the one in Oklahoma could easily have been mistaken for a "golden jackal' as it was the lightest coloured coyote I've ever seen. Here is a photo:

 

Generally, if an American zoo is not AZA accredited or ZAA accredited and privately run, then there is a great chance that it could be classified as a "roadside zoo". I've visited exactly 372 zoos in the United States (286 zoos/86 aquariums) and 520 zoos (413 zoos/107 aquariums) in total, and I've toured dozens of roadside menageries in the U.S. that are privately-run, not accredited by any governing organization, and in many cases downright shoddy in terms of overall quality. There are at least a dozen or more just in California, another dozen or more in Wisconsin, plus plenty of others all across the United States. Browse the ZooChat gallery for some eye-raising photos.

 

I'm pretty sure that dolphin IS actually a hybrid.

 

I said that.

 

In another news story about this saga, Jeff Lowe has forfeited the zoos USDA license.
www.koco.com/amp/article/tiger-king-zoo-closed-effective-immediately-jeff-lowe-says-he-forfeited-usda-exhibitors-license/33638843

 

He didn't forfeit it, that's him spinning it He lost it due to animal care. A new USDA inspection was posted a few hours ago. During the June inspection, a 16 week old lion was so thin and lethargic, the inspector actually stopped the inspection and immediately took the animal to a vet. Lowe was ordered to get care for several others ASAP, which he had not done by the July inspection.
He seems to think that by closing the zoo to the public, he'll be allowed to keep all of the animals.