This big cat has made a roaring comeback.
A new video shows the heartwarming transformation of Nala, a badly neglected lion-hybrid cub once owned by seedy “Tiger King” villain Jeff Lowe.
The poorly kept, undernourished cat was swarmed by flies that had eaten away her ears, and was limping from numerous fractured bones caused by vitamin deficiencies, when PETA swooped in to take the animal away in September 2020.
“I told you don’t point that f–king camera at me,” Lowe says angrily, as the sad scene of Nala’s rescue is recorded.
PETA dropped the video this week timed to the recent release of “Tiger King 2” on Netflix, the latest in the bizarre story of Oklahoma underground zoo operators.
Lowe infamously took over his roadside Oklahoma zoo from Joe Exotic, the eccentric character at the center of the 2020 Netflix sensation “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness.” Exotic was convicted in 2019 of paying a hit man $3,000 to kill animal rights activist Carole Baskin, and sentenced to 22 years in prison.
“Nala was near death,” PETA attorney Brittany Peet told The Post. Nala’s siblings, Amelia and Leo, were rescued at the same time. A fourth sibling, Kahari, died under suspicious circumstances before PETA arrived on the scene.
The footage then transitions to reveal a healthy and happy Nala, playing with other lions and thriving at the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Colorado.
“Today she enjoys wrestling and cuddling in her new home,” PETA says in the video, which shows the well-fed Nala strutting proudly around her open-air grassy habitat at the sanctuary.
“We hope people see Nala’s story and understand the reality for animals in roadside zoos is that they’re denied the basic tools of survival,” said Peet.
Big cats in these zoos suffer “premature maternal separation when they’re still too young to develop immunities, declawing, and are used in public encounters that violate the Endangered Species Act,” she added.
PETA earned the right to rescue the animals following a court victory over Lowe and his former “Tiger King” business partner Tim Stark.
“When federal inspectors caught sight of Nala in June 2020, they were so horrified that they halted their inspection to order Lowe to provide her with urgent veterinary care,” PETA said in a statement, noting that Nala “couldn’t take more than a step or two without falling over.”
Stark, the organization said, had illegally transferred Nala to Lowe, who has agreed never to exhibit animals again following a federal lawsuit.
The five-episode “Tiger King 2” series, featuring Lowe, is now streaming on Netflix.
“No one should ever have to suffer like Nala,” the video proclaims at the end.
PETA hopes viewers will contact their federal lawmakers and ask them to support the Big Cat Public Safety Act, pending in both houses of Congress.