Carole Baskin was thrust into the spotlight when “Tiger King” transformed the big cat activist and business owner into a pop culture phenomenon. The series fueled rumors about Baskin’s business and personal life, which she dismisses as gossip spread by her foes in an effort to detract from her life’s mission: to finally end the abuse of big cats in the United States.
In Carole Baskin’s Cage Fight, which streams Saturday, November 13 exclusively on discovery+, audiences will witness a very different side to Carole Baskin. In the two-part doc series, Baskin and her husband Howard, along with their team, get their hands dirty and investigate the treatment of big cats, often coming into direct confrontations with dangerous operators.
In January 2020, Joe Exotic (AKA Joseph Maldonado-Passage), who ran the infamous G.W. Zoo out of Wynnewood, OK, was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison after being convicted of a murder-for-hire plot to kill Baskin. Later, a federal judge awarded the property to Baskin and her Big Cat Rescue in June 2020. With the property firmly in her control, and with the help of retired homicide detective Griff Garrison, Carole Baskin’s Cage Fight documents Baskin and her team as they investigate the property for lingering evidence of animal trafficking and abuse treatment, revealing many shocking moments along the way. During the search, Baskin also enlists help from an unlikely source – Joe Exotic’s niece, Chealsi – who spent much of her childhood working at G.W. Zoo and has first-hand knowledge of what went on behind the scenes. Chealsi directs Baskin and the investigators to different areas around the zoo in pursuit of evidence such as animal remains, with some unbelievable findings along the way.
“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. This is our real-life work within 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,” said Baskin.
Baskin’s investigators and most trusted Big Cat Rescue volunteers also launch separate missions to capture evidence of illegal zoo tours and animal abuse at roadside zoos. What they discover is startling and further adds to the web of lies around the world of animal trafficking – their findings leading them on a trail to a former drug dealer in Miami…
Watch a sneak teaser for Carole Baskin’s Cage Fight.
Related posts:
