Prince was bred for exhibition at the GW Exotic Animal Park in Wynnewood Oklahoma by Joe Exotic (The Tiger King). In 2019 when Joe went to jail for killing 5 of his tigers, the Park was transferred to Jeff Lowe. On October 2020 with the help of the sheriff of Garvin County, Tigers in America removed the animals and shut down the Park. Jeff moved a number of tigers including Prince to his new place called Tiger King Zoo In Thackerville Oklahoma. The Department of Justice confiscated the remaining animals in Thackerville and Jeff’s new zoo never opened. The tigers were permanently placed in TIA named Sanctuaries. Prince began his new life at Black Pine in Indiana on January 2022.
On Jun 4 2023 Peter Emily International Veterinary Dental Foundation (PEIVDF) discovered Prince has a detached retina in one eye and a cataract in the other. He is young, only 6 years old and leads an active life, without surgery Prince will go completely blind.
Veterinarians from Purdue University agreed to perform cataract surgery.
Black Pine’s vets and animal care people developed a plan to administer eye drops without sedation or contact. After many scheduling conflicts, waiting for equipment to arrive from different suppliers and developing an effective aftercare plan, his surgery was completed on October 30th.
Returned to his habitat his recovery has been remarkable. His new sight revealing more of his habitat, he began to explore and dragging his toys into his pool another sign of confidence and happiness for him.
Tigers in America was happy to help Prince’s surgery as part of our new Medicat Program we set up to fund special medical needs of rescued big cats.
TIA and Prince would like to thank our donors who made all this possible.
