Would you own a pet that could kill you with the swipe of a paw? A lot of people do.
Reports suggest there are more captive tigers in the U.S. — including as pets and at rinky-dink animal attractions — than are left in the wild. Many are features at roadside zoos, such as the one depicted in the hit Netflix series Tiger King.
Filmed over the course of five years, the documentary series takes viewers into the world of Joe Exotic — alias of Joseph Maldonado-Passage — a self-declared redneck and aspiring country singer who owned a cub-petting, tiger-breeding zoo in Oklahoma.
At the heart of the series is Exotic’s ongoing feud with animal rights advocate Carole Baskin. Last year, Exotic was convicted of several wildlife violations and for hiring someone to murder Baskin. Heavy on the soap opera melodramatics, the series largely glosses over the conservation issues tigers face.
Although owning a pet tiger may sound thrilling, experts warn that caring for these heavyweight apex predators is far more challenging, and dangerous, than is portrayed in media. For decades, wildlife conservationists and activists have worked to curtail private big cat ownership in the U.S. — a phenomenon they say is at odds with conservation efforts, and ultimately only adds to the captive tiger surplus in America.
