"Tiger King" star Erik Cowie's cause and manner of death have been revealed.
The zookeeper died in September at age 53 and on Monday the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner confirmed to Fox News that Cowie's manner of death was natural and that the cause was "acute and chronic alcohol use."
TMZ was among the first outlets to report on his death. At the time, sources revealed that a friend discovered Cowie's body lying face down in a bedroom of a New York City residence. There were reportedly no drugs found at the scene.
Cowie appeared dozens of times in Netflix's "Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness" and remained at the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park as an animal caretaker after his boss, Joe Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, was imprisoned for violating federal wildlife laws and for his role in a failed murder-for-hire plot targeting his chief rival, Carole Baskin, who runs a rescue sanctuary for big cats in Florida.
Cowie previously admitted to having a drinking problem and revealed that he was "at the end of his rope" with his drinking problems before crossing paths with Exotic. For a while, it appeared as if they had developed a strong bond but their friendship did not last. Cowie testified against Exotic, accusing him of abusing and killing some of his zoo animals. This lead to Exotic's conviction.
Baskin last June was awarded rights to the G.W. Zoo after Exotic was sentenced to 22 years behind bars. She later sold the Oklahoma property for $140,000. The sale was made on the condition that the new owners do not use the property "to house exotic animals of any kind — or as a zoo, wildlife park or menagerie" for the next 100 years, according to TMZ.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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