Carole Baskin Tells Her Side Of Story In Discovery Channel Series

TAMPA, FL ? Turn about is fair play as far as Big Cat Rescue founder Carole Baskin is concerned.

As Netflix prepares to air Season 2 of "Tiger King," the docuseries that cast Baskin in an unflattering light, the animal rights advocate turned media celebrity is preparing to tell her own story in a Discovery channel two-part docuseries titled "Carole Baskin's Cage Fight."

The series airs Nov. 13, four days before the premiere of Season 2 of "Tiger King" on Netflix.

In the series, Baskin said she has a chance to tell the story left out in the sensational "Tiger King - Murder, Mayhem and Madness," which originally aired March 20, 2020.

On Monday, Baskin and her husband, Howard, filed a motion in federal court in Tampa asking for a temporary restraining order against Netflix and producers Eric Goode and Rebecca Chaiklin to prevent them from airing Season 2 of "Tiger King."

Howard Baskin said the producers misled them in 2014 when they were approached about taking part in the Netflix series. Carole Baskin, the CEO of the nonprofit 67-acre Big Cat Rescue sanctuary in Tampa and a nationally recognized advocate for big cats, said she was told Netflix was producing a documentary on the atrocities committed by roadside zoos.

Instead, the focus of "Tiger King" was Baskin's ongoing feud with a flamboyant and morally questionable character who goes by the name Joe Exotic, whose real name is Joe Maldonado-Passage. He is serving 22 years in prison in Oklahoma after being convicted of trying to hire a hit man to kill Baskin and for shooting five tigers at his zoo.

See related story: Carole Baskin Files Court Order To Halt 'Tiger King' Season 2

Outraged at what they felt was low-brow and salacious programming, Howard Baskin said they told Netflix producers they wanted no part in Season 2 of "Tiger King."

However, when Netlix released a trailer promoting Season 2, the Baskins said they were shocked to see they are prominently featured. Howard Baskin said the upcoming docuseries contains video and audio taken of him and his wife that they never gave producers permission to use.

In "Carole Baskin's Cage Fight," the Baskins say the audience will learn how Baskin and her team have spent years battling unscrupulous zookeepers attempting to turn a profit at the expense of the animals they were entrusted to protect.

Baskins said her advocacy of big cats often placed her in potentially explosive confrontations with zookeepers, including one documented in the Discovery series involving Jeff Lowe, who took over the Oklahoma zoo founded by Joe Exotic, Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park.

Lowe was forced to give up the zoo after Baskin won a lawsuit against Joe Exotic and was awarded the deed to the zoo in June 2020.

Nonplussed, Lowe moved his zoo animals to a nearby property in Thackerville, Oklahoma, which he called Tiger King Zoo. That enterprise was short-lived, as well. Lowe lost his license to operate the zoo in August 2020 after inspectors reported squalid conditions.

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In the meantime, Baskin's protests about the treatment of animals by Lowe reached the nation's Capitol. On May 20, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it had seized 68 protected lions, tigers, lion-tiger hybrids and a jaguar from Tiger King Park for ongoing Endangered Species Act violations.

According to Acting Assistant Attorney General Jean E. Williams of the Justice Department?s Environment and Natural Resources Division, during three inspections of Lowe's zoo, Lowe was cited for failing to provide the animals with adequate or timely veterinary care, appropriate nutrition and shelter that protects them from inclement weather and is of sufficient size to allow them to engage in normal behavior.

Jeff Lowe and his wife, Lauren, were also found in contempt after months of noncompliance with court orders requiring them to employ a qualified veterinarian and establish and maintain a program of veterinary care that meets the requirements of the Animal Welfare Act.

?This seizure should send a clear message that the Justice Department takes alleged harm to captive-bred animals protected under the Endangered Species Act very seriously,? said Williams.

?We are proud to have partnered with the Environment and Natural Resources Division to protect these amazing animals, and will work to ensure that they go to responsible animal preserves where they can be safely maintained rather than exploited," added Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas L. McQuaid of the Justice Department?s Criminal Division.

While the first season of "Tiger King" brought Baskin a degree of notoriety that earned her an invitation to compete on the television series "Dancing With the Stars," she said the "outrageous claims and misinformation about her personal life," including accusations by Joe Exotic that Baskin murdered her first husband, millionaire Don Lewis, in 1997, has overshadowed her efforts to protect big cats.

In the Discovery channel minidocuseries, Baskin said she was able to focus on the abuse, neglect and over-breeding of big cats.

With the help of homicide detective Griff Garrison, she searches for evidence of animal abuse and illegal trafficking of wildlife on the property of Joe Exotic's former zoo, "revealing many shocking moments along the way," according to the Discovery channel news release.

She also enlists the help of Joe Exotic?s niece, Chealsi, who spent much of her childhood working at the zoo and has firsthand knowledge of what went on behind the scenes.

In the docuseries, Chealsi directs Baskin and the investigators to areas around the zoo where evidence most likely will be found of animal abuse, including the remains of the tigers that Joe Exotic shot.

The documentary also follows Baskin and her team as they set up a weeklong aerial surveillance of Lowe?s property that results in several tense confrontations between Lowe and her team.

The series also shows a Big Cat Rescue volunteer going undercover to capture evidence of illegal zoo tours and animal abuse at roadside zoos, a trail that leads to former Miami drug kingpin-turned-zookeeper, Mario Tabraue, another larger-than-life character introduced in "Tiger King."

In a 1989 federal case code named "Operation Cobra," due to the fact that Tabraue owned an exotic pet store and ranch, Tabraue was convicted on racketeering and drug charges along with his co-conspirator, Orlando Cicilia, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio's brother-in-law.

According to federal prosecutors, Tabraue and Cicilia operated businesses dealing in exotic birds, snakes and other exotic animals that were fronts for smuggling cocaine from Colombia.

Tabraue was given a 100-year prison sentence, but he was released after 12 years when he turned informant.

Once released, he promptly resumed his exotic animal business, importing and breeding wildlife under the benign and misleading name Zoological Wildlife Foundation. The business was originally called Zoological Imports 2000 Inc.

Despite his history of drug smuggling and a series of animal neglect and abuse violations dating back to 2001, and the fact that the U.S. Department of Agriculture recently charged him with two federal Animal Welfare Act violations, Tabraue has inexplicably managed to retain his license allowing him to import wildlife.

?This is a unique opportunity for audiences to come behind the scenes with us for an unfiltered look at how we expose the cub-petting exploiters and roadside zoos we feel are mistreating animals," Baskin said of the upcoming Discovery series. ?This is our real-life work with a dangerous world, and viewers will see it comes with our people being threatened, guns pointed at us and the bad guys shooting at our drones.?

Brittany Peet, PETA Foundation deputy general counsel for captive animal law enforcement, appeared in the first season "Tiger King" and played a pivotal role in Joe Exotic's conviction.

She said the animal abusers featured in "Tiger King" are slowly-but-surely getting their just desserts.

?It?s been a deservedly rotten year for 'Tiger King?s' villains, nearly every one of whom is now in prison, out of business or facing criminal charges or lawsuits," she said.

Additionally, she noted that the use of big cats for photo ops decreased dramatically following the first season of "Tiger King."

Baskin also plans to continue lobbying for the passage of the Big Cat Public Safety Act (H.R. 1380- S.2561), a federal bill that would prevent people from owning big cats as pets and stop exploitative roadside zoos from offering cub petting and photo ops.

Last year, the bill passed the House vote and was read twice in the Senate but ultimately was referred to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works for further review.

See related stories:

• Tiger King's Carole Baskin Hopes Dancing Leads To Animal Reforms
• 'Tiger King's' Carole Baskin Competes In 'Dancing With The Stars'
• Netflix's 'Tiger King' Prompts Sheriff To Seek Tips In Cold Case
• Carole, Howard Baskin Tapped For TV Expose On Animal Exploitation