Tiger King star Erik Cowie's cause of death has been revealed after he was found dead at the age of 53.
The zookeeper was famous for his appearance on 'Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness', a documentary series following the life of Joe Exotic, who ran the G.W. Exotic Animal Memorial Park in Oklahoma.
Erik, a tiger handler at the zoo, was found dead in a friends bedroom in New York City on September 3, TMZ reported.
It has now been revealed that the Netflix star died from 'acute and chronic alcohol use', the Mirror reports.
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The cause of death was officially ruled by New York City's chief medical examiner and the star's death has been classified as natural.
Erik had the title of head zookeeper for five years under Exotic's management - but the pair have since fallen out over controversial practices alleged to have taken place at the zoo.
Exotic is currently serving a 22-year sentence in Fort Worth, Texas, for a string of animal abuse charges.
Erik, a favourite among Tiger King fans, told a court during Exotic's trial that older tigers had been shot and killed at the zoo.
In the Tiger King reunion episode, The Tiger King And I, Erik said he was pleased his former boss was in jail and admitted feeling guilty after being instructed to put down animals for no good reason during his time at the zoo.
He said: “It’s in the back of my head and I think about it a lot – a lot of times when we put cats down, they used me because just my appearance or my voice meant I could get a cat up the side of the cage where we can dart it and tranquilise it.
“Those cats trusted me up until the end. Sometimes, I swear they’re like ‘Dude you let me down’”
After being asked if he thinks Exotic should be released, Cowie said: “No. Not no, but f*** no.”
He added, with a laugh: “Twenty-two years doing federal time – that guy’s gonna die in there. Good riddance.
“I am pretty sure they don’t have Netflix in there so he won’t get to see it.”
Speaking from prison, Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, said he was not shocked his former co-star had died.
In an interview with the Daily Mail he said Erik had suffered from chronic alcohol abuse and had been looking to be treated for it.
"So am I shocked he is gone? No, not a bit. I put him through rehab in Ardmore, Oklahoma, and still [gave] him a home and a job," he said.
He claimed the last time he spoke to Erik, he had told him about how he had been fired for being drunk.
Exotic said: "The next time I saw him was at my trial when he was [sitting] up there lying his a** off because he needed to kiss Jeff’s a** to stay at my zoo and to be the big cat hero on Netflix."
Exotic was found guilty of nine counts of violating the Endangered Species Act and was also convicted of trying to hire a hitman to kill Carole Baskin - the owner of rival tiger attraction Big Cat Rescue.
