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Before Joe Exotic was known to the world as the Tiger King, he desperately tried his hand at being a "Wolf King" ... but he got dethroned after a very short reign.

TMZ's learned Joe Exotic got his hands on 28 gray wolves back in early 2018 after a so-called "petting zoo" in Minneapolis was forced to give up the animals following an unfavorable ruling at trial over a lawsuit alleging it violated the federal Endangered Species Act.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund was behind that lawsuit ... and it didn't take long before the ALDF had Joe in its crosshairs. Christopher Berry, the ALDF attorney behind the lawsuit, tells TMZ ... he fired off a legal letter to Joe accusing him of also violating that law.

The letter accuses Joe of transporting the wolves from Minnesota to Oklahoma, which is one of the ESA violations because it's against federal law to transport protected animals across state lines without a permit.

The lawyer also accused Joe of trying to sell protected animals ... Berry pointed out the commercial sale of a protected animal violates federal law. Berry also alleged Joe tried to sell at least 4 wolf pups on social media.

And, get this ... Berry offered to resolve the issue amicably, but Joe wasn't having it. Berry tells us a few days after Joe received the letter, Joe was pissed off to the point he called Berry and chewed him out in a profanity-laced rant ... denying he broke any laws.

We're told, Joe ultimately admitted trying to get a handle on wolves proved way more challenging than he anticipated. One example ... the wolves often clawed out of their enclosures and ran amok at Joe's G.W. Exotic Animal Park.

Berry says Joe ultimately turned the wolves over to Lockwood Animal Rescue Center ... an animal protection org. in Ventura, CA. After complying with Berry's letter, we're told the ALDF took no further legal action against Joe.

As for how Joe's facility got selected to receive the wolves ... we're told the Minnesota petting zoo was desperate to find the wolves new homes, but irresponsibly sent 28 of the as many as 60 wolves to Joe, who clearly was not equipped to care for them.

But, just when ya think there's a happy ending ... think again. Berry says only 25 of the 28 wolves at Joe's facility were transferred to Lockwood. He says one of the wolves died from an infection at Joe's park. As for the two remaining wolves ... they went MIA and no one ever figured out what happened to them.

Then again, Joe Exotic's been accused of heinous acts against animals.

May 9. May 16. May 23.

UFC star Tyron Woodley says he's ALL THE WAY DOWN to fight 3 Saturdays in a row -- as long as it gets him the title fight he's been craving.

Remember, Woodley was supposed to fight Leon Edwards on March 21st -- but the fight was scrapped due to complications from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since then, Tyron says he's been busting his ass to stay in fight shape so he can get back into the octagon as soon as the UFC gets back in business.

Now, Woodley says he's so fired up about going back to work, he's daydreaming about ways get his welterweight championship belt back from Kamaru Usman ASAP ... even if it means fighting 3 weeks in a row.

Tyron spells the whole thing out on "The Hollywood Beatdown" -- saying he's already been in contact with the UFC to try and get on the May 9th card.

And with most sports shut down around the world, Tyron thinks the opportunity to get on a major UFC card would be HUGE.

If he pulls off "back to back to back" victories, Tyron says he would HAVE to be recognized as the UFC G.O.A.T.

Poor Mark Wahlberg ... the guy seems lost when it comes to the viral Carole Baskin dance, but he got a surprise introduction to it ... courtesy of his wife and daughter!!!

Mark was simply going downstairs for a snack when he ran into his wife, Rhea Durham, and 10-year-old daughter Grace getting down to the TikTok craze dance. He posted the video and posed just one question: "Could somebody please tell me what this is?"

But, it wasn't just that Rhea and Grace were rapping along to a remixed version of Megan Thee Stallion's "Savage." Check out the vid ... the mother-daughter duo dressed up for the part with flannel shirts and cap. Gotta give Grace bonus points for going the distance and channeling Joe Exotic himself by drawing a goatee on her face and fuzzy chest hair.

If ya missed out, like Mark, the remix was recently created by musician Caleb Jaxin, and so far it's been used in more than 1 million TikTok videos. The remix starts with a roar before you hear the lyrics, "Carole Baskin killed her husband, whacked him. Can’t convince me that it didn’t happen. Fed him to tigers, they snackin’. What’s happenin’, Carole Baskin?"

And, if those lyrics are still confusing to Mark ... someone hook him up with a Netflix password so he can binge 'Tiger King.'

Joe Exotic is in a desperate situation ... he's isolated in the bowels of a federal prison, unable to fight the government in his $89 million wrongful imprisonment lawsuit, and he's begging the judge for access to a computer and the law library.

The "Tiger King" star just filed a handwritten legal doc, telling the judge he's running out of time to respond to the government's legal docs in the civil lawsuit. Joe says he can't respond without the proper tools, so he wants another 30 days.

Joe says he's been isolated at the Federal Medical Center ... he can't phone anyone, email them ... he has no access to the outside world.

This syncs up with our TMZ Investigation, which aired on Fox last Monday. We were told he was in isolation because inmates from the previous facility where Joe was housed tested positive for the virus. The prison disputes it, but for some reason, he's still in quarantine. His people say Joe is virus-free.

Joe is also appealing his conviction. He has some interesting arguments ... among them, "did the prosecutor throw in animal abuse charges in the murder-for-hire trial just to unfairly prejudice the jury so he'd get convicted?" And, if you saw the special, it's interesting that "hitman" and star prosecution witness Allen Glover revealed a bias by saying he delivered payback to Joe and wished he could have done more to hurt him.

Joe Exotic's infamous pizza venture lives on at another famous joint known for making pies -- and it's even plastered Joe's mug all over the new creation.

Behold the "Dough Exotic" ... the hilarious new menu option whipped up by Tony Boloney's in NJ. It's a giant square pizza made to look like tiger print at first -- but when it's ready to come out of the oven ... bam! It's your good friend, Joe!!!

Specifically, it's Joe's mug shot from when he got busted by the feds for the attempted murder-for-hire plot against his nemesis, Carole Baskin.

See the resemblance?

Tony Boloney's describes the wacky recipe this way -- "This pizza is so big it’s enough to feed all of Doc Antle’s sister wives and we will never financially recover from this! This pizza has bunny blood sauce, a hint of sardine oil, cheese and meat, (but not expired Wal Mart meat out of the back of a truck)."

You'll recall ... Joe and co. dished out some gnarly pies that, by their own admission, included old meat they got free from Walmart.

Anyway, the description's obviously a joke -- Tony's real ingredients consist of prosciutto, vodka sauce, mozzarella and balsamic honey. It's being sold at the pizza joint's Hoboken location.

BTW, Tony's been helping out with the COVID-19 relief effort ... donating hundreds of meals a week to first responders and health care workers.

California officials will vote on a renewed hot button issue -- protecting local big cats -- and you gotta imagine ... 'Tiger King' will be at the forefront of everybody's minds for it.

The California Fish and Game Commission is scheduled to have the matter before them on Thursday, where they'll decide if mountain lions in Southern and Central California deserve state-mandated protections afforded to animals under the Endangered Species Act.

The effort to get these West Coast big cats that protection has been in the works for about a year, with several environmentalists, zoologists and different animal foundations having submitted petitions to move the item forward. Now, it's on the Commission's agenda.

Of course, the vote probably couldn't have at a better time ... seeing how Joe Exotic and co. just swept the nation and has most everyone -- especially Californians -- talking about tigers, lions and the like. Long story short ... we fully anticipate hearing 'Tiger King' on Thursday.

As for what these protections will do if passed by the CFGC ... it'll actually be a great boon to keeping mountain lions alive as humans continue to build out our own world. According to the Center for Biological Diversity -- which is helping spearhead the vote -- mountain lions could potentially get their own wildlife crossings built ... above freeways.

There are other protections the big cats would receive, and frankly ... it sounds like a great idea. The question now ... how much thanks would Joe and his tigers get if this goes through?

Carole Baskin took just about everything from Joe Exotic, but she didn't get the shirt off his back -- that belongs to one eBay user who's trying to hawk it for a quick (and pricey) buck.

Yes, one of Joe's own personal sequin tops (blouses?) is up for grabs on the famous auction site -- and the best part is that it was even featured on Netflix's 'Tiger King.' Cooool!!! The only downside ... it's going for a pretty penny. The opening bid right now is $650.

The shirt's owner, Vincent Baran, tells TMZ he came across the rare JE artifact surfing the web 2 weeks ago. He says he noticed Joe's old stomping grounds, The Greater Wynnewood (G.W.) Zoo, was offering a bunch of Joe's shirts on Facebook to whoever wanted 'em ... for a price. Way cheaper than what he's charging now though.

Vince says G.W. only wanted $100 for an article of Joe's clothing -- now, the dude's attempting to flip it on eBay for at least 5 times that amount ... and he thinks it'll go for way more than the listed price. The reason ... he says he's seen other Joe Exotic items sell well online.

VB tells us he recently spotted one of Joe's many hats hit the digital marketplace for a cool $800, so he believes he can get his money's worth for something worn on the man's own torso.

Time will tell if people are buyin' what Vince is sellin' ... so far, he's got zero bids. Hang in there, bud ... just like that shirt did for a damn good while in Joe's abandoned closet. 😅

Joe Exotic was a master magician with a huge bag of tricks, according to his old magic promos -- but of course, he still couldn't make Carole Baskin disappear.

TMZ's obtained some never-before-seen footage of Joe's old magic show ... from a 6-minute highlight reel. The promo was never intended for the public, but for the venues where Joe booked his high-paying gigs.

As you know, the 'Tiger King' star had a traveling tiger and magic show in addition to his zoo, and he made tons of stops at malls, shopping centers and theaters across the country ... before Carole got involved.

Joe's promo is everything you would expect from the entertainment genius ... it's called, "Mystical of The Endangered," and it shows Joe performing magic with tons of exotic beasts.

There's sword tricks, pyrotechnics, a mime, vanishing, illusions and lots and lots of animals ... tigers, snakes and parrots, oh my!

JP Wilson, the magician from 'Tiger King,' tells TMZ ... he met Joe back in 2004 during a magic show in Norman, OK where Joe supplied him with a tiger. JP says Joe was so impressed with his magic, Exotic brought him on tour.

Eventually, Joe wanted to be the magician and JP says he taught him some tricks. Joe and JP worked together for years, until Carole and the animal rights folks shut down Joe's traveling performances.

JP says he remained close with Joe and would visit the zoo a couple times a year, even sponsoring a tiger at one point.

The wildest part ... JP firmly believes if Carole and the animal rights people didn't get Joe's traveling show shut down, and cut off his main source of income, Joe wouldn't have been forced into breeding tigers.

"Love Is Blind" star Carlton Morton is playing a game of love-ya-today, trash-ya-tomorrow with his one-time fiancee, which is why she's kicked him to the curb ... for good.

Diamond Jack tells TMZ why she recently took the extreme measure of blocking Carlton on social media. He's been barking about it on his page, as he openly pines for her to take him back. She says there's a pretty simple reason for her cutting him off.

Diamond says Carlton was all hugs and smiles with her during the reunion episode, but as soon as cameras stopped rolling ... she claims he turned into Mr. Hyde, and allegedly started bad-mouthing her online and threatening her with legal action.

That was enough for Diamond to completely ax him from her feed. But, there's a bigger reason she thinks he's allegedly been flip-flopping, and it has to do with the forthcoming second season -- which we already know Carlton is openly lobbying to join.

As we reported, the casting call for a new season has already gone out -- and producers are prodding about sexual orientation this time around.

Makes sense, seeing how Carlton's bisexuality utterly blew up his and Diamond's relationship during Season 1.

Speaking of that, Diamond weighs in on the new screening question for the new batch of pod-people. Basically, she sees it as a pivot from a lesson learned more than anything else.

Joe Exotic's antics on 'Tiger King' have already made him a pop culture icon, but don't forget ... he's also a musician -- sort of -- and the popularity of his tunes is soaring too.

A rep for Spotify tells TMZ ... ever since Joe's track, "I Saw a Tiger," was added to the platform on March 30, he's gained listeners in every single one of Spotify's 79 markets.

As for which market's clamoring for the song the most ... the answer is Denmark!!! Yeah, go figure. We're told the Danish folks are streaming it at a higher rate than any other country, followed by people in the UK, Ireland and Iceland.

Americans, however, have listened to it the most times ... primarily thanks to a much larger population, but ya gotta believe it's because Joe is one of our own.

North Dakota's ranked as the state listening to Exotic at the highest rate, followed by Mississippi, Montana, Kentucky and West Virginia. For what it's worth ... Nevada, Hawaii and California are listening the least.

Spotify says along with his vast reach increase over the past 2 weeks, Exotic's averaging an 18 percent DAILY increase with his share of streams. We're told millennials are his biggest fans -- ages 25-29 are consuming Joe's music at the highest rate, followed by the 30-34 age range.

Of course, all of this is besides the fact the infamous imprisoned tiger breeder doesn't even write or sing his own songs ... that's all done by The Clinton Johnson Band. As we first told you ... the band's hoping to cash in on Joe's success too.

For more on 'Tiger King' ... check out a 'TMZ Investigates' special tonight on FOX at 9/8c.

The biggest mystery in Netflix's 'Tiger King' is whether Don Lewis was murdered and, if so, who did him in.

Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister tells TMZ, he's convinced one person could NOT have committed the 1997 murder ... he says someone must have helped and someone got paid.

Although Hillsborough says Don's wife, Carole Baskin, is NOT a suspect or person of interest, he tells us he's suspicious of her and he's also suspicious of others. Watch FOX Monday night at 9 PM for our special, "TMZ Investigates, Tiger King: What Really Went Down?" He explains exactly why he's suspicious.

The Sheriff's looking for someone to come forward -- maybe someone who helped who wants to clear his or her conscience -- and spill the beans.

Sheriff Chronister also makes it clear ... he's willing to deal with anyone who has info, and immunity is on the table.

Carole has strongly maintained she had nothing to do with Don's disappearance.

Joe Exotic's former campaign manager wants to do for Joe Biden what he did for the 'Tiger King' star -- raise tons of cash with some wild fundraising parties.

Joshua Dial, who ran Joe's failed campaign for governor of Oklahoma, and was heavily featured in the Netflix docuseries, tells TMZ ... Joe's campaign would regularly rake in $5,000 to $10,000 for tiger parties catering to rich folks.

Joshua says they would load a baby tiger into a cage in the back of a van and haul it off to private parties for rich donors ... who gladly paid top dollar to party the night away and play with the tiger cub.

The tiger fundraiser parties were a huge hit, and Joshua says they organized several of them during Joe's 2018 campaign.

Carlton Morton wants to be bi-seasonal ... the "Love is Blind" star tells us he wants to bring back his bisexual storyline for the second season of the reality show.

Carlton tells TMZ ... he wants to find love and is still looking for his match, and he would be more than open to coming back for a second helping of "Love is Blind" if the producers are onboard.

As you know ... Carlton shot to fame on the Netflix show's debut season, but for all the wrong reasons. He didn't tell Diamond he was bisexual until AFTER he proposed, leading to an epic spat.

Carlton says he's even been approached about his own spin-off show ... but he tells us he would totally settle for a second shot on "Love is Blind."

It's good to see Carlton in good spirits ... when we last caught up with him, he was seeking therapy after a cry for help and a 911 call.

As we first reported ... "Love is Blind" is already casting for season two, and the casting company is asking potential contestants about their sexual orientations.

Carlton thinks "Love is Blind" wants more contestants from the LGBT community ... not less, and he gives the show props for being all-inclusive.

Carlton's ready to head for a pod at the drop of a hat ... and he's also got a message for his ex-fiance.

Joe Exotic is officially on the White House's radar now -- thanks to a reporter asking President Trump if he plans to pardon the 'Tiger King' star and convicted felon.

The bizarre exchange went down Wednesday during, of all things, the coronavirus taskforce briefing. The reporter asked Trump if he's heard of the popular Netflix series, and, if so, might he consider commuting Joe's 22-year prison sentence.

The reporter told the Prez ... his son, Don Jr., joked during a radio interview he'd lobby POTUS to pardon Joe Exotic for the memes "and just for frankly watching the media reaction to this thing."

It's actually pretty hilarious ... Trump asked which son made that comment before answering in signature fashion, saying, "I know nothing about it." That didn't stop him from also saying he'd look into it. For good measure ... he also asked CNN's Jim Acosta -- a reporter Trump often feuds with -- if he thought a pardon was a good idea.

he says those comments were just about the crimes joe committed, so there's no reason to step away based on them

Joe Exotic wants a new judge to preside over his civil lawsuit, 'cause he says the robe has already shown he's a homophobe who has it out for your boy.

The 'Tiger King' star -- who's currently locked up -- filed a new motion this week asking Judge Scott Palk to recuse himself from a lawsuit Joe filed a few weeks ago against the feds.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Joe argues Judge Palk has already presided over other civil cases Joe's been involved in over the years -- and not just the ones depicted on Netflix between himself and nemesis Carole Baskin.

Joe claims Palk has a tainted view, and also hurls accusations at him ... saying Palk has proven he's a gung-ho animal rights activist and homophobic. JE pegged the judge's tone with him during proceedings as "hostile" and "agitated."

Specifically, Joe claims the judge told him ... "I will make sure you are never around another animal the rest of your life." Joe also alleges the judge said, "You were trying to broker a pair of lions to support your husband from jail."

Joe denies that, BTW, and adds even if it were true ... it'd be completely legal in Texas.

In any case, Joe seems to think Judge Palk -- who's currently set to weigh in on his newest lawsuit -- has a grudge against him, and he wants a fresh start with someone else.