Bhagavan Antle

Bhagavan Mahamayavi Antle (born March 16, 1960), also known as Kevin Antle or Doc Antle, is an American animal trainer and private zoo operator.

Antle began raising dogs in his youth, and started operating a private zoo in 1983. Antle has worked as an animal trainer for films including ''Ace Ventura'' and '' Dr. Doolittle'' in addition to appearing as a guest on several television shows. In 2020, he was featured in the first season of Netflix true crime documentary series ''Tiger King.'' Antle was the subject of a follow up documentary ''Tiger King: The Doc Antle Story'' released in December 2021.

Antle has faced accusations of animal cruelty throughout his career. In October 2020, Antle was charged with two felony counts related to wildlife trafficking and 13 additional misdemeanors after an investigation by the Attorney General of Virginia. Antle has also has faced public allegations of inappropriate relationships with minors at the private Buckingham County, Virginia zoo, and of operating a cult at the Myrtle Beach Safari location, claims that Antle denies. On June 3, 2022, Antle was arrested by the FBI for charges related to money laundering.

Early life and education

Doc Antle was born Kevin Antle in Salinas, California in 1960. Antle grew up on an industrial farm in Salinas, part of a wealthy family connected to Tanimura & Antle, an agricultural company. His father was a boxer. Antle dropped out of school before the ninth grade. As teenagers, Antle and his girlfriend traveled to Virginia to attend a one month yoga retreat at Yogaville, a community founded by Swami Satchidananda Saraswati, an Indian spiritualist. The pair got married after the retreat and changed their names. Antle performed magic shows at the Yogaville ashram and became a close associate of Satchidananda.

Through family business connections, Antle traveled to China where he studied basic medical training to serve rural populations and earned the nickname “doc”. He returned to the U.S. in the 1980s, a time where American interest in health food and mindful living was growing, and began practicing alternative medicine in the Yogaville community in Virginia.

Although Antle has claimed to have a PhD in zoology, two of his former wives and other former staff members stated that he never attained a PhD, they also stated that he never went to a university, nor does he have a college degree of any kind. They claimed he instead paid someone to write that he was a doctor on a certificate while in China during a medical training course.

Career

In the 1980s Antle practiced as a magician and opened a private zoo in Buckingham County, Virginia on a 14-acre property near the Yogaville ashram that held 100 animals including lions, tigers, bears, monkeys, and an elephant. The private zoo was opened in 1983.

Antle is the founder and director of The Institute for Greatly Endangered and Rare Species (T.I.G.E.R.S.) in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and the Myrtle Beach Safari, a tour that runs through the facility. He is a self-described conservationist and is the executive director of the Rare Species Fund, a nonprofit organization that purports to fund wildlife conservation. Journalists have raised questions about how revenue generated by Antle's cub petting tours is distributed between his business and his nonprofit organization.

Film and television

Writing in ''Variety'', Rebecca Rubin states, "Antle has ties to Hollywood, having worked as an animal expert on films like "Dr. Dolittle" and " Ace Ventura: Pet Detective." He appeared frequently on late night talk shows and also provided creatures for movies including " The War," "The Jungle Book," " Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls," " Mighty Joe Young" and "The Jungle Book 2." Antle was credited as a "principal animal trainer" in the 1994 and 1995 ''Ace Ventura'' films, a "trainer" in the 1994 and 1997 ''Jungle Book'' films and as an animal trainer in ''Mighty Joe Young''.

In 2001, Antle was on stage with Britney Spears during her performance of " I'm a Slave 4 U" at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards, which featured a caged tiger and a large albino python draped over Spears' shoulders. In 2008, Suryia and Roscoe, an orangutan and an orphaned blue tick hound which had formed an unusual relationship at Antle's zoo, appeared on the ''Oprah Winfrey Show'' in Chicago.

Controversy

Antle was the subject of a three-part true crime documentary spin-off of ''Tiger King'', titled ''Tiger King: The Doc Antle Story'' released by Netflix on December 10, 2021.

Accusations of animal abuse

Antle was fined by the USDA for abandoning deer and peacocks at his zoo in Buckingham, Virginia

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