Television

Jeffrey Lowe, the man who took over the animal park at the center of the popular Netflix documentary “Tiger King,” was accused on Thursday of violating the Endangered Species Act and Animal Welfare Act, prosecutors said.On Thursday, the Department of Justice announced that it had filed a 110-page civil complaint against Mr. Lowe and his wife, Lauren Lowe and the park, the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park in Wynnewood, Okla.The complaint accuses the couple of violating the Endangered Species Act and the Animal Welfare Act by exhibiting animals without a license and jeopardizing the health of their animals. The complaint asked the court to require the couple to relinquish some of their animals to the government.Mr. Lowe’s lawyer, James M. Wirth, said in a statement that the couple were “consistently caring and kind stewards of animals in their care,” and that the government had constructed a “fictional interpretation” of the Animal Welfare Act.“The government claims that because Mr. and Mrs. Lowe allowed a documentary crew onto their property, they were unlawfully exhibiting wildlife,” he said. “By the government’s contrived standard, anyone who takes a selfie of an endangered species in a zoo is an unlawful exhibitor in violation of federal law.”Mr. Lowe is the latest figure from the documentary, about feuding exotic-animal owners and animal-rights activists, to face accusations of wrongdoing by the government. The previous owner of the park, Joseph Maldonado-Passage, was convicted last year of trying to hire a hit man to kill an animal-rights activist who criticized him.Another park owner featured in the documentary, Bhagavan Antle, who is known as Doc, was charged in October with two felony counts related to wildlife trafficking and 13 additional misdemeanors.Until August, Mr. Lowe and his wife operated the Oklahoma animal park that used to be owned by Mr. Maldonado-Passage, who is better known as Joe Exotic.The 16.4-acre facility had several animals protected by the Endangered Species Act, including tigers, lions, a grizzly bear and ring-tailed lemurs, the complaint said.In June, after a seven-year legal battle, a judge gave the park to Carole Baskin, the animal-rights activist who sparred with exotic tiger keepers in the documentary. Ms. Baskin’s husband, Howard Baskin, said in a statement Friday that they hope that the Justice Department is successful in removing the animals.“The numerous very serious citations by U.S.D.A., in our opinion, clearly demonstrate that the Lowes should not be allowed to have animals,” he said, referring to the assertions by Department of Agriculture investigators.The complaint filed by the Justice Department against Jeffrey Lowe and his business for violations of the Endangered Species Act and the Animal Welfare Act contains photographs documenting “inadequate and inhumane treatment of animals.”In June and July, inspectors from the U.S.D.A.’s Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service said they found some of the animals “in poor health and living in substandard conditions at the Wynnewood facility,” a violation of the Endangered Species Act and the Animal Welfare Act.In the complaint the Lowes were also accused of not providing “timely and adequate veterinary care,” causing some of the animals to “suffer from easily treatable conditions.” Some of these cases resulted in “untimely” death, the complaint said.The inspectors found that the animals had not been provided with a sufficient amount of food, and that they were underweight and suffering from nutritional deficiencies. Inspectors also said they found big cat carcasses that were partially burned and decomposing, and a broken refrigerator truck with rotting meat, the complaint said.“The Lowes’ failure to provide basic veterinary care, appropriate food and safe living conditions for the animals does not meet standards required by both the Animal Welfare Act and the Endangered Species Act,” said Jonathan D. Brightbill, the principal deputy assistant attorney general of the Environment and Natural Resources Division.The complaint also accused the Lowes of routinely separating big cat cubs from their mothers for “playtime” events with park guests, potentially bringing “long-lasting harm” to the cubs.In one example, inspectors said they saw a lethargic and thin lion cub that had discharge coming out of her nose and eyes, and sores on her ears. They said the cub, named Nala, was later found to be suffering from an upper respiratory infection, dehydration, malnutrition and a urinary tract infection. Nala was transferred to a wildlife sanctuary in Colorado in September, the complaint said.In August, the U.S.D.A. suspended Mr. Lowe’s Animal Welfare Act exhibitor license and attempted to permanently revoke his license.Days later, Mr. Lowe voluntarily terminated his own license, court documents said. The Lowes later moved their animals to a 33-acre property in Thackerville, Okla. They have said that their new facility there will be named the “Tiger King Park” and will operate as a film set for television shows. The Lowes do not have a license to exhibit animals, according to the complaint. More

Kiernan Shipka knows a thing or two about growing up onscreen: The actress was 6 when she first appeared on “Mad Men” as Sally Draper, the role that first brought her acclaim, and had turned 15 by the time the series ended in 2015.Now 21, as of this month — her first legal drink stateside was a Campari spritz — Shipka has realized, even after seven seasons as Don Draper’s daughter, she still had a bit of onscreen growing left to go. Shipka has spent the past several years as the teenage witch at the heart of Netflix’s “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina,” which will wrap up with its fourth season, premiering Dec. 31.“I’ve been playing that character since I was 18, and 18 to late 20, those are big years,” she said. “It’s super formative of your adulthood in a lot of ways. All my friends were going to college, and then I was going off to do this other thing. It was kind of emotional to feel like I was letting her go.”Ahead of the final season, Shipka discussed 10 of her favorite things, cultural and otherwise, in a phone interview from her home in Los Angeles. (Coffee and cheese were both strong honorable mentions: “The backbone of my happiness,” Shipka said, “is probably dairy products.”) These are edited excerpts from the conversation.1. Phoebe BridgersOne of my favorite artists — ugh, she’s so good — is Phoebe Bridgers. She just came out with a new album a little bit earlier in the year, and it is such a stunning piece of work. I grew up in the same circles as her; she went to school with a lot of my friends in L.A. And now the fact that everyone loves her and she’s this incredible, fully assumed artist, it makes me so happy to see. There’s a song on her latest album — it’s the last song, called “I Know The End” — and it’s truly such a work of art. Honestly, if you want to feel like your life is a TV show and this is the finale episode of season one, that’s the perfect song to listen to.2. Scuba DivingI have done maybe 10 dives now; I’m still pretty new. The first time you just want to make sure you’re not going to die or explode. But once I got the hang of it, it became my favorite thing ever. I’m really bad at meditating; I’ve tried and tried and tried and I just can’t do it — I have the app on my phone staring at me at all times. But when you’re diving, you have to focus on your breath very closely, because that’s pretty much informing your buoyancy, so it becomes this super meditative experience. You have this very calm, meticulous cadence to your breath, and you’re in a beautiful place.3. Ottessa MoshfeghI think that she’s probably my favorite author of the moment. I read “My Year of Rest and Relaxation” for a book club, and it’s just so brilliantly worded and funny and heartbreaking. It’s wonderful. And then the book she wrote before that, “Eileen,” really keeps you on your toes. It’s a little bit more of a thriller, and my goodness, it’s so fabulous.4. EuchreI’ve been playing this card game called Euchre, which is like a modified, low-key version of bridge. I truly wish it was more of a mainstream thing — it is just a really nice way to connect with people. If you’re lucky enough to bond with three other people in your life right now, playing Euchre is the way to go.5. Mini TrampolinesWhen I was filming “Sabrina” in Vancouver, I found that the only way I would get any sort of movement was if I brought this mini trampoline to set. Me and my family have accumulated a couple mini trampolines around the house, and it’s become really normalized in our world. But every time a new person sees the trampoline, they’re like, “Why is there a trampoline in your kitchen?” I love jumping on them when I’m watching TV, if I’m just hanging, when I’m bored, if I need to get a little boost going — I find that a little midday bounce really does the trick.6. ‘The Sopranos’I feel like this is a lot of people during quarantine, but I watched the series for the first time. I have now become fully obsessed. I follow every “Sopranos”-related Instagram account that there is, every “Sopranos” meme account — these “Sopranos” Reddit conversations just bring me so much joy. I’ve seen every analysis of the finale on YouTube. I was locked down with my family and my best friend, and my best friend watched it with us — he got me this pair of Tony Soprano sweatpants and Tony Soprano slides. They’ve got Tony’s face on it, a little Prozac pill, the Bada Bing sign. By the end, I just felt like I wanted to make ziti.7. My White SupergasI think I’ve worn the same shoes all year — these are my every day, every night shoes. I’m 5-foot-3, so I like the platform without having to actually wear a heel. I wear with dresses, jeans, sweats — I think it goes with just about everything.8. MargaritasI know I’ve been 21 for like three days. However, I was legal in Vancouver starting at 19 years old, and I spent two years up there, so I have had plenty of margaritas in my short time as a legal drinker. It’s a drink I always go back to. I think there’s a nice novelty in other drinks, but there’s something about the tequila, salt, citrus, light sweetness. Rain or shine, that’s my favorite drink.9. New YorkThe first time I went to New York to promote “Mad Men,” when I was 10, I could not contain my excitement. Honestly, I don’t think there’s a better experience than looking out that plane window and seeing Manhattan. There’s just so many layers of life and memories in that city for me; I really miss it. I really enjoy the Lower East Side, and I know New Yorkers aren’t very excited by Times Square, but I think that there’s a novelty to it — there’s such a cinematic element to that portion of New York. Also, Russ & Daughters for bagels has my heart and soul.10. Tino the Mannequin HeadMy mom got me these mannequin heads that I could do makeup on when I was a kid, just for fun. And for some reason, this one stuck around in the basement for years. When I was maybe 14 or 15, my friends dug it up — they were like, “What is this? It’s haunted for sure.” We’ve given it a life of its own: His name is Tino, and he’s a fixture, I would say, in my friend group. And it does give off really weird cursed vibes. More

“Remind me, is it a good sign when your lawyer starts melting?” Stephen Colbert joked after Rudy Giuliani appeared to sweat hair dye during a news conference. More