Have You Heard about the Tiger King?

Amid the current global crisis, with all non-essential persons working from home, the Netflix docu-series that “everyone” is talking about seems to be the only thing trending that is not directly related to COVID-19.

If you haven’t yet heard or have had the pleasure to see, Tiger King follows the big cat and exotic animal craze that has become an obsession for certain entrepreneurs across the United States. These business owners live in and operate what they call “zoos” but what can only be accurately described as animal farms in rural parts of the country. There are hundreds competing against each other, breeding and raising exotic cats, monkeys, and reptiles for patrons to pay large amounts of money to interact with.

While some owners hide behind the guise of education and conservation, and others claim to offer a sanctuary for rescued big cats, Joe Exotic, the Tiger King, throws the notion of proper maintenance and safeguarding of these animals out the window. Joe is “like a mythical creature;” he’s obsessive, narcissistic, and out-of-touch. Along with the name “Tiger King,” he has many other self-made claims to fame such as owning 227 big cats, hosting a daily live broadcasted tv show from his farm, ring master of zoo shows, a country singer with multiple albums and music videos, and even underwear and hot sauce lines in his name.

Ideally, Joe Exotic’s delusions of grandeur should only be harming himself, however, his personality, merged with owning and operating a zoo/animal farm, creates a lethal combination. A light mauling is something to be shrugged off and a missing limb is shockingly commonplace amongst the employees of the Tiger King’s zoo. Big cats are fed expired meat from Walmart and roadkill by ex-convict and drug-addled employees that live in squalor in broken-down mobile homes on the property.

If you think that wasn’t bad enough, just wait, it gets worse…

While Joe has his own misgivings and mania, his competition is just as unscrupulous. “Doc” Antle runs a legitimate cult following of “apprentices” and at least five “wives” in his exotic animal preserve. Calling himself “Bhagavan” which is Hindu for prophet or friend of God, he uses his “doctorate in mystic sciences” to woo unsuspecting young women to work from 8:00am to midnight six days a week. He reportedly dresses his apprentices, changes their names, and pays for their mandatory breast implants. He also has rumors swirling around his celebrity that he euthanizes his big cats once they get “too old” for his purposes, after only about six months.

Then there’s Carole Baskin, who is a social media marketing master, going as far as broadcasting live from metal cages. She lays claim as the “only true” big cat sanctuary while outing her opponents by name online. Even though she began as a breeder/seller herself, she has gone as far as calling authorities on the likes of Joe and Doc.  Meanwhile, her slightly-less-poised competitors drum up rumors about her, such as where her missing millionaire husband has disappeared to (perhaps in the belly of one of her big cats?). Unlike her antagonists, Carol at least has the decency to properly feed and care for her big cats and advocate for big cat protective legislation in DC. The so-called “animal rights people” like Carol are considered the enemy to public and private exotic animal owners.

So, with all the hype and perplexity of these in-fighting, neurotic big cat owners, here’s the question: Will the Tiger King series bring light to the real issue at hand? Will this change the trajectory of illegally breeding and selling exotic cats in this country?

There are more endangered cats living in the United States than in the wild. Joe Exotic proclaimed to “breed more tigers than anyone in the country” by turning around and selling them to small animal parks and private “collectors,” and he’s not the only one. Will this show increase interest positivity or negatively? Will it make it more commonplace to own wild animals? It seems that even these “professionals” can’t provide proper care. It’s also important to note that “anybody that poses for a photo with an exotic cat is a part of the problem” as Carole claims.

While Tiger King has become a viral sensation, it looks like viewers are more consumed with the craziness of the plot line and cast of characters than actually making a change about owning, breeding and selling exotic animals as evidenced by the memes below.

Whether you’re enticed by the extremism and idiocy of these owners, the endangerment of these wild animals, or to see how the murder mystery unfolds (or does it?), I highly encourage you to give into the trending show and see the machinations all come together. What will you learn from this decisive show?