It’s the documentary of the year… maybe even of the century.
Netflix released a seven-part docuseries entitled, “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness,” which featured two rival exotic cat enthusiasts that eventually evolved into a murder-for-hire plot and a husband who mysteriously disappeared.
Last week, the “Tiger King” zoo reopened amid the state’s protocols over the global coronavirus pandemic.
And you’ll never believe what happened next.
Joe Exotic sounds like the name of a hero in some big-budget action movie, but it isn’t.
Joe Exotic is an unapologetic, mullet-wearing polygamous homosexual who owned a controversial “Big Cat” private zoo in Oklahoma before being sentenced to prison.
Exotic’s nemesis, Carole Baskin, the owner of Big Cat Rescue – which is a non-profit animal sanctuary – has been trying to get Joe’s zoo shut down for years.
While Baskin seems like the hero at first – whose only mission is to close Exotic’s zoo due to the living conditions – our expectations are thrown completely out the window when we learn her husband magically disappeared years earlier, leaving all his fortune to her.
Exotic launches a local campaign to accuse Baskin of feeding her husband to tigers, which eventually evolves into Joe hiring a hitman to murder her.
You can learn about all these colorful characters and the wild twists and turns on Netflix’s “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness.”
As Tony the Tiger says, “They’re grrrrrreat!”
Joe Exotic’s zoo was closed when Netflix released the docuseries
When the docuseries was unleashed on America, Oklahoma’s Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park – Exotic’s zoo – was closed due to the state’s pandemic restrictions.
But just last week, the zoo reopened with droves of people eager to experience the now-infamous animal park.
Many people waited in lines for hours – as one visitor Daniela Toledo said, “It was packed. Super busy. I got there at 2, and we had to wait until 6:20 [to get in].”
‘Tiger King’: What is it Really Like to Visit A Roadside Zoo?
But if you’re shocked that visitors waited that long to visit the animals; two baby tigers waited even longer for all the eager customers.
Toledo said, “[The keeper] told me they’d been doing it since 9 a.m. She told me it was the same tigers… the whole time.” That’s flat-out exploitation.
One of the many things Joe Exotic’s animal park was criticized for in the docuseries was the mistreatment of animals who weren’t provided adequate food, safe enclosures, or proper veterinary care.
These tigers require an expensive diet that Exotic couldn’t always pay for, so they scoured the bargain bins of grocery stores for discounted and expired meats.
As was seen in the docuseries, Exotic eventually lost the zoo to his business partner Jeff Lowe, who later provided the murder-for-hire evidence against Joe Exotic to federal agents.
It’s not Joe’s Zoo anymore
And now Jeff Lowe owns and operates the zoo. In fact, Lowe plans on moving the zoo to Thackerville, Oklahoma while his former business partner sits in prison.
Imagine sitting in jail, albeit guilty of your crimes, while your creation becomes a national viral sensation and one of the most talked about documentaries of all time. And adding insult to injury, it was stolen right from under you by the man who helped convict you.
Joe Exotic must be stewing in his 8-foot cell right now. And hey, why wouldn’t he? Netflix’s documentary was the ultimate advertisement for his animal park.
Now Jeff Lowe gets to cash-in on Joe Exotic’s lifelong passion.
