Tiger King’s latest docu-series will zoom in on Myrtle Beach Safari’s Doc Antle
Bhagavan “Doc” Antle was barely featured in the second season of Netflix docu-series “Tiger King.”
Perhaps that’s because a three-episode series based solely on him was in the works.
Netflix announced Friday that “Tiger King: The Doc Antle Story” premieres Dec. 10.
The trailer, released Friday, begins with Antle speaking about his famed Myrtle Beach Safari, located in Socastee.
“We have a fabulous facility with quality environments with the animals,” he says. “There’s nothing to see here except success, understanding and a team of people who make it their life.”
The trailer then shifts to other voices claiming that Antle is involved in a cult in which he uses the teachings of “Yogaville” in a manipulative way. People voiced in the trailer talk of Antle’s infatuation with power and control.
They describe him as believing he’s bulletproof.
“Doc won’t survive in sunlight,” one person says.
A man voiced in the trailer says Antle uses his animals to court women.
“Whenever we went anywhere, he was on the prowl,” the man says. “There’s no greater pickup line than ‘Do you want to pet my tiger?’”
There’s also claims of Antle forging the signature of a man whose daughter he married on the marriage license. The trailer also portrays Antle as someone on the run who has detectives waiting for him to “slip up.”
There are teasing claims of “terrible things” going on.
“The truth cannot stay hidden,” the trailer concludes. “You put that bad energy out there, that bill someday will come due.”
Antle acknowledged the streaming docu-series to The Sun News on Friday but did not immediately respond for comment.
Previously, Antle told The Sun News that he believed he would be portrayed in “Tiger King 2,” which came out Nov. 17. It now appears the interviews he was aware of were done for the three-episode docu-series on him.
“I know a couple of my ex-wives and a couple of my ex-volunteers have been interviewed and I’m sure they have a lot to say,” Antle said last month.
Antle has had legal issues since the first season aired. He is facing felony charges in Virginia related to illegal wildlife trafficking. He was indicted last October following a months-long investigation by the Virginia Attorney General’s animal law unit, according to a news release from the office.
Antle’s charges include felony counts of wildlife trafficking and conspiracy to commit wildlife trafficking, along with misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty and conspiracy to violate the Endangered Species Act.
The charges are related to lion cubs transported from a Virginia facility, Wilson’s Wild Animal Park, to Antle’s facility in Myrtle Beach, also known as The Institute for Greatly Endangered and Rare Species (T.I.G.E.R.S.). The animal cruelty indictments allege he carried or caused the lions to be carried in a “cruel, brutal, or inhumane manner, so as to produce torture or unnecessary suffering.”
Antle’s jury trial is set to begin July 25, 2022 in Fredick Circuit Court, according to Virginia court records.
As far as the docu-series that include him, Antle has said “it’s all a joke.”
“All they’re looking for, just like last time, they need some kind of salacious, wild story to tell,” Antle said last month. ”They have no burden of proof. It’s not a documentary. They just want some great hearsay because the hearsay did so much power last time.”
This story was originally published December 3, 2021 at 12:26 PM.
