WITH the world in lockdown and many of us trying to find ways to entertain and distract ourselves during isolation, Netflix’s new show, Tiger King, about the dark underworld of big cat breeding in America has become a unifying, binge-watching hit.
It’s fiction?
No, you couldn’t make it up. It’s based on the real life story of Joe Exotic, owner of an exotic animal park in Oklahoma, exploring the interconnected world of big cat conservationists in America and the wildlife sanctuaries and private zoos they have set up for these potentially deadly animals.
Big cat breeding has a “dark underworld”?
So it seems. Tiger King has become a smash hit for streaming service Netflix, focusing in particular on the conflict between Exotic and Carol Baskin, who owns Big Cat Rescue in Florida. If you don’t want spoilers, perhaps don’t read on…but the documentary tells the story of the escalating feud that ultimately ends up with him accusing her of being involved in the disappearance of her second husband and then Exotic attempting to hire someone to murder Baskin.
So who is he?
Born Joseph Schreibvogel, he is now best known as “Joe Exotic” or “Tiger King”. He grew up on a farm in Kansas and in his 20s, opened a pet store, before purchasing a farm in the 1990s. Responding to what he says was a life-long love of big cats, he soon created a zoo full of them, with more than 1,200 animals including tigers, lions and leopards.
He also gained notoriety for his private life - he has had five husbands, tying the knot with two in a joint ceremony in 2014.
He ran for President?
He ran for President of the United States in 2016 as an independent and then for Governor of Oklahoma in 2018, as a Libertarian.
So where is he now?
In January of this year, Exotic - who previously appeared in a Louis Theroux documentary, “America's Most Dangerous Pets” back in 2011 - was sentenced to 22 years in prison for his plot to kill Baskin, as well as the wildlife crimes, including trafficking in endangered animals and killing tigers to make more room in the cages at his roadside zoo.
The jury heard...
At his trial, jurors were told he paid $3,000 to a zoo worker who promised to cut Baskin's head off and that in a separate incident, he offered to pay $10,000 to an undercover FBI agent posing as a hit man to shoot Baskin.
He still protests his innocence?
The 57-year-old is adamant has declared his innocence and vowed to appeal, saying on his Facebook page he plans to sue the federal government for false imprisonment.
He wrote: “If I wasn’t living this for real, I would never believe that in America the Government could actually take part in such lies to further an animal rights agenda. But again, look what they are doing to our own President. Our Justice System is so broken.”
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