‘Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem & Madness’ is a seven-part Netflix true crime documentary series, which tells the story of former zookeeper, Joe Exotic. Joe – whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage – was the owner of Oklahoma’s Garold Wayne Exotic Animal Memorial Park, where he showcased his collection of lions and tigers. He butted heads with animal rights activist Carole Baskin from 2004 onwards. Carole, who owns the Big Cats Rescue sanctuary in Tampa, Florida led a protest campaign against Joe, who traveled around the country performing with his tigers in shopping malls. What followed was a years’ long battle, which included Joe ranting against Carole on his online show and her suing him for trademark infringement. It ended in – according to the Justice Department – Joe paying a man $3,000 in 2017 to travel from Oklahoma to Florida to kill Carole, as part of a thwarted plot. In 2019 he was found guilty of, among other things, two counts of murder-for-hire. In January 2020 he was sentenced to 22 years in prison.
