Tiger King season 2 cast: who stars with Joe Exotic, will Carole Baskin return - and Netflix UK release date

Cast yourself back to the beginning of the Covid pandemic, when Joe Exotic and his disreputable Big Cat zoo took Netflix by storm.

From murder threats to feline friends, the miniseries was a whirlwind of unpredictable, unimaginable drama and characters - and now it’s back for a second season.

Promised as ‘another season of murder, mayhem, and madness’, the second season promises to reveal untold stories, plot twists and jaw-dropping footage.

None of this would be nearly as entertaining without the eccentric cast members. So, who will be returning for Tiger King 2? This is what you need to know.

Tiger King season 2 cast

These are the cast members we can expect to see returning to the show for season two.

Joe Exotic

The star of the show, Joe Exotic, is currently in prison serving a 22-year sentence for the attempted murder-for-hire of Carole Baskin, as well as 17 other crimes.

However, the 58-year-old will still feature in the new docu-series.

Exotic’s other charges include nine under the Endangered Species Act, from when he owned the infamous Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park.

Over the past year, Joe’ lawyers have pursued civil cases against other members of the Tiger King cast, including James Garretson.

Exotic was also unsuccessful in his attempts to be pardoned by former US president, Donald Trump.

Appearing in the show via interviews, Exotic’s claims include that he is “an innocent man is in jail,” and that he is “paying the price” for the other cast members’ riches.

Jeff Lowe

Joe’s formal rival and enemy Jeff Lowe is also in the new series. He told TMZ ahead of the show’s release that he and Exotic have put past feuds behind them in a bid to relocate the infamous animal park.

Lowe is currently trying to win back his big cats after he was evicted from GW Exotic Animal Park, following a government raid.

In series two, the 53-year-old is living with his wife Lauren, 29. The pair are working to move GW Exotic Animal Park from Oklahoma to a new location.

He and Joe are now “working together” according to Jeff, who has information he believes could help Exotic’s court case. In return, Exotic will attempt to help him get his animals back.

Jeff is now said to be a witness in Joe’s appeal of his conviction for the murder-for-hire of Baskin, which Joe’s defence described as their “secret weapon” of evidence.

Tim Stark

Stark was not affiliated with Exotic’s animal park, but the outcome of running his own has proven similar to that of Exotic’s.

Stark was the owner of Wildlife in Need, in Charlestown, Indiana. However, following the first series it was searched by law enforcement and closed, leading to the re-homing of more than 200 cats.

His firearms were also removed and he was charged with 120 violations of the Animal Welfare Act, after his staff accused him of animal cruelty.

The second series of Tiger King will explore the situation fully, as production was underway when Stark’s exhibition licence was permanently revoked and he was fined $340,000.

He was also found to have been fraudulent when he registered the organisation as a not for profit.

It was widely reported that Stark then threatened to take his own life and harm others, during a Facebook Live video.

He has since been given psychiatric testament and, and his license to carry handguns was suspended, with an Indiana court declaring him a “dangerous person.”

Allen Glover

Glover is also set to appear in the new series, which could see a fair few twists and turns in the case of Joe Exotic’s appeal case.

Glover was initially introduced in the first series as Jeff Lowe’s handyman who moved to GW animal park when Lowe took over for a brief spell. He was then hired by Exotic as a hitman, but has since claimed he was never going to kill Baskin.

Instead, he said in a sworn testimony that he and Jeff plotted to kill Joe.

It was Glover’s testimony which ultimately landed Exotic in jail, after he failed to kill Baskin. Glover ran away with the money and disappeared for some time.

He says he is spilling the truth now about his real intentions, because it is: “the right thing to do”.

“I wanted Joe’s head on a spike. I was going to kill Joe Exotic, I hated him that much,” he admitted.

Glover now claims he planned to tie a wire between two trees, hoping Joe would drive through it in his open-top jeep.

James Garretson

Garretson was not originally set to feature in the second series of Tiger King, following claims he received death threats after Joe Exotic was jailed.

However, he is now a returning cast member despite currently living in South Florida and running a jet ski operation.

In April, he revealed Exotic was suing him and other cast members for their roles in landing him in jail.

Exotic filed the $94 million lawsuit against Garretson, Lowe and others, including  the the U.S. Department of the Interior and Fish and Wildlife Services for perjury, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution and causing mental anguish.

Garretson said of the lawsuit: "He’s claiming it’s some kind of conspiracy or whatever.

"I have not seen the lawsuit, I’ve just been told about it,” he added.

Rey Rodriguez

New to the Tiger King cast is Rey Rodriguez, an associate of Carole Baskin’s first husband, Don Lewis.

Lewis went missing in 1997 and many theories have pointed the finger at Baskin for his disappearance, which Baskin and Rodriguez deny.

Rodriguez claims that Lewis had planned to relocate to Costa Rica, and that he was in relationships with underage teenagers.

“He talked about moving to Costa Rica and starting over afresh,” Rey said in Tiger King 2. “Don told me he was there to get away from Carole [Baskin] and so he put investments into my name.”

Rey claims Lewis’s relationships with young women in Central America could be the reason why he fled.

“Don’s favourite woman was Corina, I believe she was about 15,” he reflected, adding that he told his friend to “be careful what you’re doing,” as “these little girls have family, people will find out.”’

Yarri Schreibvogel

In another shock twist to the Tiger King 2 cast, Joe Exotic’s estranged brother, Yarri, gives an interview.

Exotic has spoken about the death of his other brother, Garrold, in a car accident in 1997. However, it has transpired that Exotic is actually one of five siblings - including older brother Yarri and sisters Pam and Tammy.

In the second season, Yarri tells the cameras "I haven’t seen Joe face to face in 20 years and don’t want to because it ain’t going to be pretty."

While Yarri doesn’t go into much detail about why they no longer speak, Joe accused him of sexual abuse during BBC documentary ‘Shooting Joe Exotic’.

Exotic said of his eldest brother: “Ingrained in my memory forever… being molested by my oldest brother at about five years old in the bathroom of our old farmhouse."

However, Yarri does not comment on these accusations and instead provides insight into growing up as a family - telling of their abusive father and how Joe would wound animals and then “doctor them back to life.”

Will Carole Baskin return for Tiger King 2?

While footage of Carole Baskin - arch-enemy of Exotic - will feature in the series, she is unlikely to give interviews or share any information about life since she featured in season one.

The reason for this is that Baskin thought Tiger King would be “the Blackfish for big cats,” and instead “turned out to be a freak show”.

The keen big cat enthusiast and owner previously told Radio Times that she felt betrayed by the portrayal of her and has told producers to “lose her number”.

"It was just a few weeks ago that Rebecca Chaiklin [producer] had reached out asking if we could clear the air,” she said. “I have been speaking about how we had been so misled into thinking this was going to be the Blackfish for big cats and then it turned out to be the freak show that they produced."

Baskin is adamant she will not feature in any follow ups, “So when she said she wanted to clear the air, I felt like, you know, that’s just absolutely ridiculous.

“It was so obvious that I had been betrayed by them. Why would she ever think that I would be willing to speak to them again? And so I told her to just lose my number,” she reiterated.

Baskin is also suing Netflix over its second series, as she claims footage she owns is being used without her permission.

What happened to Erik Cowie?

Erik Cowie, the head zookeeper of Exotic’s GW Zoo, who featured on Tiger King season one, will not return for the second instalment as he passed away earlier this year.

Cowie, who had worked at the zoo for five years, died on 3 September aged 53. His cause of death was confirmed as ‘“acute and chronic alcohol use”.

During Exotic’s 2019 trial, Cowie testified against his former boss, alleging that Exotic had shot five tigers in order to make space for new tigers.

While Cowie only heard the shots, he said: “I knew what was going on.”

In The Tiger King and I, the special episode hosted by Joel McHale where he interviewed people from the series, Cowie expressed his regrets for working with the eccentric animal trader.

When is Tiger King season 2 released on Netflix UK?

The second season of Tiger King consists of eight episodes, all of which will be available for all Netflix subscribers from Wednesday 17 November.