The popularity of Netflix’s Tiger King brought important issues about big cats in captivity to the public stage. The biggest claim, perhaps, was that zoos are necessary to conserve big cats in the wild.
Review of the Tiger King Zoo: Joe Exotic Didn’t Love His Animals
Tiger King has taken the world by storm. The Netflix series about exotic animal owner and breeder Joe Exotic and his feud with sanctuary owner Carole Baskin fascinated people across the world. While the Netflix docuseries was definitely captivating, as a wildlife biologist, it was extremely frustrating to watch…
#1. Conversations on Animals in Captivity: Tiger King
In this very first episode of the Fancy Scientist podcast, I talk about the major frustrations that I, a wildlife biologist, had about the Netflix docuseries Tiger King…
Is Cub Petting Conservation for Big Cats?
Netflix’s series Tiger King sparked a lot of conversation about tiger conservation and animal welfare, with cub petting being at center stage. Unfortunately, the documentary did not include any unbiased experts (e.g. scientists, conservationists) to weigh in on this topic…
Is Big Cat Rescue as Bad as the Zoos in Tiger King?
EVERYONE has been asking my thoughts on Tiger King. I’m a wildlife biologist with 17 years of experience and a long personal history of doing research on animals in captivity…
Ethical Zoos: How to Determine the Good from the Bad
Everyone is watching Tiger King! This docuseries on Netflix explores the true crime story between between a tiger breeder and his big cat sanctuary owner rival…