Joe Exotic's lawyers reveal Tiger King's ill health, request a pardon from prison

Joe Exotic's lawyers have revealed the Tiger King's rapidly declining health, as they request another pardon for him to be released from prison.

The 57-year-old, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, is serving a 22-year sentence for animal abuse and murder for hire for a plot to kill his mortal enemy, Carole Baskin.

The application was filed on Tuesday with the US Department of Justice.

Exotic's lawyers claim the former tiger breeder maintains his innocence and claims he was "railroaded and betrayed" by others.

"Joseph is scheduled to be released from custody in 2037; however, with his compromised health, he will likely die in prison," lawyers wrote in the 257-page application.

"He humbly requests a pardon to correct the injustices he has experienced and to have the opportunity to return to providing meaningful contributions to his community."

Joe Exotic rose to prominence on the Netflix doco, Tiger King. Photo / Supplied

In a three-page letter obtained by TMZ in June, Exotic claimed he would be dead in "2-3 months" due to an immune disorder.

"As most people know I was born with CVID [common variable immune deficiency], not Covid-19, and hemogamaglobinanemia [sic] and required blood infusions every four weeks," Exotic revealed.

"I'm loosing [sic] weight, sores won't heal, I'll be dead in 2-3 months. It's like I have been sent to death row."

Exotic, who has begged for a presidential pardon from US President Donald Trump on a number of occasions, became a household name around the world as the subject of the wild Netflix documentary, Tiger King, which was released in March.

The seven-part doco began with a grim statistic: There are more tigers sitting in cages across the USA than there are left in the wild.

From there, Tiger King took viewers inside the fierce rivalries that exist among the underworld of big cat dealers across the US, a world we had no idea existed.