{"id":188227,"date":"2025-09-23T14:50:29","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T12:50:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/?p=188227"},"modified":"2025-09-23T14:50:30","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T12:50:30","slug":"tragedy-in-oklahoma-tiger-suddenly-attacked-its-trainer-and-killed-him-in-front-of-his-family-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/tragedy-in-oklahoma-tiger-suddenly-attacked-its-trainer-and-killed-him-in-front-of-his-family-video\/","title":{"rendered":"TRAGEDY IN OKLAHOMA: Tiger Suddenly Attacked Its Trainer and Killed Him in Front of His Family! (VIDEO)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>A tiger at the Growler Pines sanctuary in Hugo, Oklahoma, suddenly attacked and killed its trainer, Ryan Easley, in front of an audience on Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The investigation continued on Monday to determine what prompted the tiger to attack and kill its trainer during a performance at the animal sanctuary in Oklahoma over the weekend, authorities said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The incident occurred Saturday evening at the Growler Pines sanctuary in Hugo, a town in southeastern Oklahoma near the Texas border, claiming the life of 37-year-old Ryan Easley, the sanctuary\u2019s owner, Choctaw County Sheriff Terry Park told ABC News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Easley and the tiger were performing before an audience when the animal turned on him, attacked, and killed him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt happened near the end of the show, in front of people who saw everything. No one but God knows what prompted the tiger to attack the trainer,\u201d Park said in a phone interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Park stated that the tiger, which Easley had raised since it was a cub, bit Easley on the neck and shoulder, likely killing him instantly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The sheriff added that Easley\u2019s wife and young daughter were among the witnesses of the attack and that when the tiger moved away from Easley, his wife rushed into the cage and moved the animal into another enclosure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The incident was reported around 2 p.m. on Saturday. Sheriff\u2019s deputies, along with Hugo police officers and the Choctaw County EMS team, quickly arrived at the scene, but Easley was already dead when they arrived. His body was transported to the State Medical Examiner\u2019s Office in Tulsa for an autopsy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The agency that licensed the sanctuary also conducted an investigation. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the oversight body that issued the license and conducted inspections at the facility. According to the sanctuary, the USDA had carried out 32 surprise inspections of ShowMe Tigers and Growler Pines without finding any violations, with the most recent inspection on January 13, 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Handler killed in tiger attack during demonstration at Oklahoma preserve\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oDXB3QfKCNk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Growler Pines posted a statement on its Facebook page on Sunday confirming Ryan Easley\u2019s death:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWith deep sadness, we confirm the tragic passing of Ryan Easley, who lost his life in an accident involving a tiger under his care. Ryan was a passionate advocate for wildlife conservation. His love for animals, especially big cats, was evident in every aspect of his life. He dedicated his life to protecting and caring for these magnificent creatures and deeply believed in Growler Pines\u2019 mission to provide a safe and permanently enriching home for the animals under his care. Growler Pines was not just a workplace for Ryan; it was his calling, his passion, and the purpose of his life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before opening his sanctuary, Easley ran ShowMe Tigers, a circus act with tigers that toured the U.S. The organization Humane World for Animals stated that Easley owned ten tigers and obtained young ones from Joseph Maldonado, known as \u201cJoe Exotic,\u201d the former owner of a zoo in Oklahoma and the main figure in Netflix\u2019s documentary series <em>Tiger King.<\/em> Joe Exotic is currently serving a 21-year prison sentence for murder-for-hire conspiracy and killing and selling tigers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cRyan Easley\u2019s death was tragic and preventable. We hope it will serve as a warning about the danger and cruelty of others who continue to use dangerous wild animals for entertainment,\u201d said Laura Hagen, director for captive animals at Humane World for Animals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><mark style=\"background-color:#FFFFFF;color:#d21414\" class=\"has-inline-color\">MORE TOPICS:<\/mark><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/serbia-won-another-medal-svetlana-and-ivana-won-bronze-at-the-european-pickleball-championship\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">SERBIA WON ANOTHER MEDAL: Svetlana and Ivana Won Bronze at the European Pickleball Championship!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/like-when-milosevic-was-overthrown-the-washington-post-on-student-protests-military-parade-and-europes-silence\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">\u201cLIKE WHEN MILO\u0160EVI\u0106 WAS OVERTHROWN\u201d: The Washington Post on Student Protests, Military Parade and Europe\u2019s Silence!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/krivokapic-vucic-was-not-allowed-to-speak-at-amfilohijes-funeral-because-it-would-be-a-montenegrin-embarrassment-video\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">KRIVOKAPI\u0106: \u201cVu\u010di\u0107 Was Not Allowed to Speak at Amfilohije\u2019s Funeral, Because it Would Be a Montenegrin Embarrassment\u201d (VIDEO)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/monument-to-tesla-in-manhattan-mayor-of-new-york-supported-the-initiative-of-consul-general-bozovic\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">MONUMENT TO TESLA IN MANHATTAN: Mayor of New York Supported the Initiative of Consul General Bo\u017eovi\u0107!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/golden-talents-of-serbian-kickboxing-junior-national-team-brought-19-medals-from-the-european-championship\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">GOLDEN TALENTS OF SERBIAN KICKBOXING: Junior National Team Brought 19 Medals from the European Championship!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><strong>Source<\/strong><\/strong>: <strong> <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/US\/oklahoma-animal-handler-attacked-killed-tiger-performance-sheriff\/story?utm_source=facebook&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=dhfacebook&amp;utm_content=app.dashsocial.com\/abcnews\/library\/media\/586690122&amp;id=125792975\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">ABC News<\/a>,&nbsp;<strong>Foto:<\/strong> Printscreen Instagram @growlerpinestigerpreserve<br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A tiger at the Growler Pines sanctuary in Hugo, Oklahoma, suddenly attacked and killed its trainer, Ryan Easley, in front of an audience on Saturday. The investigation continued on Monday to determine what prompted the tiger to attack and kill its trainer during a performance at the animal sanctuary in Oklahoma over the weekend, authorities [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2169,"featured_media":188228,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[71,8777,320,8778,8779,262,2697,115,15,4806],"class_list":["post-188227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-america","tag-amerika","tag-oklohoma","tag-porodica","tag-rezervat","tag-tigar","tag-tragedija","tag-trener","tag-ubistvo","tag-video","tag-zivotinje","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Serbiantimes.info EN","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2169"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=188227"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188227\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":188248,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188227\/revisions\/188248"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/188228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=188227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=188227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=188227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}