Tiger King star Joe Exotic’s failed attempt at becoming a ‘wolf king’

He’s famous all over the world for being the Tiger King, but Joe Exotic once attempted to be known by a different moniker.

Tiger King star Joe Exotic initially wanted to become a “wolf king” years ago.

According to TMZ, Joe, the subject of the Netflix documentary Tiger King, took in 28 grey wolves in early 2018 from a “petting zoo” in Minneapolis.

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That zoo had apparently lost a lawsuit against the The Animal Legal Defence Fund claiming it disobeyed the Endangered Species Act, reports The Sun.

ALDF lawyer Christopher Berry, who filed the lawsuit, reportedly later sent a legal letter to Joe saying he also broke that law.

Joe was accused of transporting the animals from Minnesota to Oklahoma, which is against the ESA, because protected animals can't cross state lines without a permit.

Joseph Maldonado-Passage, also known as ‘Joe Exotic’. Picture: Santa Rosa County Jail via AP, File

Chris also claimed Joe tried to sell multiple wolf pups on social media, which violated the law’s ban of the commercial sale of endangered animals.

According to Christopher, Joe angrily denied breaking any laws.

TMZreports that Joe ultimately felt the wolves were more than he could handle at the G.W. Exotic Animal Park – as they would apparently escape their cages and run all over the zoo – so he turned them over to Lockwood Animal Rescue in California.

Since then the ALDF has had no more involvement with Joe.

However, only 25 of Joe's 28 wolves made it to Lockwood.

Christopher claims one of the animals died from an infection at Joe's park, and the other two went missing.

Joe is now serving a 22-year sentence after being convicted of a murder-for-hire plot against his exotic animal rival Carole Baskin, 58.

Carole Baskin is Joe’s rival. Picture: Netflix

Last month, Joe sued the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Department of the Interior along with the assistant lawyer who prosecuted him and several witnesses.

Joe claimed he was convicted on false and perjured testimony and is seeking nearly $US94 million ($A1.48 million) in damages.

The judge initially called to dismiss the suit and gave Joe until the end of the month to file an objection.

Last week, US District Judge Scott Palk extended that deadline to May 28.

According to The Oklahoman, Joe apparently sent a handwritten letter requesting the additional time to respond.

This article originally appeared in The Sun and was reproduced with permission