‘Tiger King’ Zookeeper Erik Cowie Gets New Set of Teeth

Another member of the Tiger King cast is sporting a new smile. Months after the series dropped on Netflix, TMZ reports that Erik Cowie, a head zookeeper at Joe Exotic’s former Oklahoma zoo GW Exotic Animal Park, has gotten new teeth, a generous gift from the zoo’s latest owner, Jeff Lowe.

According to the outlet, who spoke with sources close to the controversial roadside zoo, Lowe and his wife Lauren surprised Cowie with a flight to Florida and a visit to Done In One, which performs teeth implants in no more than 48 hours. The generosity kept on coming, because Done In One decided that the procedure was on the house. The facility told the outlet that they had first reached out to Lowe and his wife in the hopes of arranging a surprise for Cowie.

As Comicbook.com reports, Cowie’s smile was first revealed on Reddit, with a user sharing a photo of Cowie sitting in a dental chair as he prepared for the dental implants. Another user later shared a before-and-after shot, which showcased the major transformation and drew plenty of comments from fans. One person wrote, “wow, he look like a totally different person!!” Somebody else said that they were “happy he finally got to do something for himself.”

Cowie, who notably testified against Exotic at his trial and has stated that he does not believe his former boss should be released from jail, frequently interacts with the public. He leads tours at GW Exotic Animal Park and answers any questions visitors may have about the animals. Despite these frequent interactions with the public, however, Cowie has reportedly felt as though he’s had a difficult time connecting with visitors, as he has long been self-conscious of his smile.

Cowie is just the latest subject of the famed docuseries to undergo a bit of a makeover since Tiger King debuted back in March. Shortly after it premiered to much fanfare, becoming a must-watch amid coronavirus quarantines, John Finlay, Exotic’s ex-husband, had also gotten a brand new smile. Although Finlay had frequently appeared on the docuseries shirtless and missing several teeth, he later revealed that he had actually gotten dental work done in 2019 and that his teeth “were fixed before, but kept braking (sic) from accidents on four wheelers, animal attacks, and getting beat up while building cages.” He was among a number of stars who spoke out against the series, claiming that they portrayed him as “a drugged-out hillbilly.”

Despite the numerous complaints from the series stars, Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness has been among Netflix’s most successful shows. It recently snagged six Emmy nominations. It is currently available for streaming on Netflix.