Tigers seized from Pahrump man who said some came from ‘Tiger King’ Joe Exotic

Nye County officials seized seven tigers Wednesday from a Pahrump property in an enforcement action tied to exotic animal permitting.

According to the Nye County Sheriff’s Office, the animals were removed because their owner, Karl Mitchell, did not have a special conditions animal permit, which is required to keep exotic animals in the county.

The animals were transported to an undisclosed sanctuary, where they will remain until a court order determines their release. A veterinarian was on-site during the operation, authorities said.

Mitchell, a longtime big cat handler, was arrested on charges of resisting arrest and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. He was booked into Nye County jail and released the same day, according to booking documents.

Mitchell told KSNV in Las Vegas that six of the tigers were rescues he received in 2019 from Joseph “Joe Exotic” Maldonado-Passage, the zookeeper featured in the Netflix series "Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness."

Mitchell's past issues with USDA, Nye County

The Nye County Commission approved a special animal permit for Mitchell in 2019. He was not allowed to exhibit the animals and had to notify animal control before transporting them, and then only for medical reasons.

In 2001, the U.S. Department of Agriculture revoked his license to exhibit animals. In 2010, Mitchell was ordered to pay more than $68,000 in civil penalties for continued violations, including exhibiting tigers without a license and refusing to allow inspections.

Mitchell has said he is disabled and lives with PTSD, and that a Veterans Affairs psychiatrist prescribed the tigers as emotional support animals. A letter from the VA was included in public documents submitted to Nye County commissioners in 2019 during a hearing on his permit.

During that hearing, officials noted the tigers had come from Oklahoma — aligning with Mitchell’s later statements about their origin. Joe Exotic’s roadside zoo, the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park, operated in that state until it was shut down following federal investigations.