Tiger handler Ryan Easley was mauled to death by one of his charges over the weekend while performing with the big cat at the Oklahoma sanctuary where he worked.
“It is with profound sorrow that we confirm the tragic loss of Ryan Easley, who lost his life in an accident involving a tiger under his care at the Growler Pines Tiger Preserve on September 20th, 2025,” the facility said in a Facebook post Sunday. The private preserve normally welcomes visitors for tours and a closer look at the huge mammals but has now suspended operations indefinitely.
Easley, 37, was wrapping up an act with the tiger when the animal suddenly turned on him, Choctaw County Sheriff Terry Park told The New York Times. One second everything was normal, and a split second later “the tiger grabbed him and started biting him around the neck area and shoulder area,” Park said Monday.
Easley slumped to the ground, the tiger backed away, and Easley’s wife coaxed it into another cage. The tiger-loving handler had already stopped breathing by the time first responders arrived, Park told KXII-TV.
“This tragedy is a painful reminder of both the beauty and unpredictability of the natural world,” the Growler Pines Tiger Preserve said in its post. “Ryan understood those risks — 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 — one rooted in respect, daily care and love.”
Animal rights groups expressed sorrow tempered with frustration and renewed calls to abolish so-called roadside zoos.
“What makes this death particularly tragic is that it was preventable,” said the animal-rights group Humane World for Animals, formerly the Humane Society of the United States, in a statement. “This is a tragedy that never should have happened. Our sympathy goes out to Easley’s loved ones who now grapple with the grief of loss.”
Also paying tribute was fellow Oklahoman big cat lover Joseph Maldonado, better known as Joe Exotic of Tiger King fame. From the prison cell where he’s serving time for concocting a murder-for-hire plot, Maldonado praised Easley via social media for taking good care of and advocating for his beloved animals, though he later deleted the posts, according to The Oklahoman.
With News Wire Services
