What’s the Allure of Keeping Big Cats?

Tiger King has become the series on the minds of many. The Netflix documentary delves into the world of Joe Exotic and his obsession with big cats.

The documentary paints the picture that the ownership of exotic animals is widespread across the United States. It’s hard to imagine that in the house beside yours, there could be lions or tigers in the backyard. Yet, owning exotic animals was once a sign of wealth that the privileged few did.

G.W. Zoo in Oklahoma is a shrine to Joe Exotic, being likened to ‘his stage’ by one of his employees in the documentary.

He is a showman on the screen, bouncing between cage to cage with his misfit gang of staff. He admits he often takes in ex-convicts, giving them a roof and a place to start. Not that his trailers are exactly five-star accommodation, shown by a clip of two workers laughing at a rat in a drawer.

His relationship with Carole Baskin is interesting, to say the least, as they seem to battle against each other. Two larger than life characters battling against each other, linked by their love of animals but little else. The question of whether it’s profit or love that drives them is left unspoken in the first couple of episodes.

Joe Exotic’s collection of 227 cats and breeding operations calls into question his motives further. When an employee gets his arm bitten off, he is panicked and spurred into action. It’s a relief to see that he calls 911 to get “Saff” medical help. However, once he’s cleared the gift shop, he muses on the financial implications of the incident.

Joe showcases the numerous cages with pride, parading around his zoo. A liger is a thing, I discover, the offspring of a male lion and a female tiger. A tigon is a female lion and a male tiger.

The strength of them is never far from your mind. When meat is dropped down a chute into a lion’s cage, its mouth opens and you see its teeth. Joe Exotic has never once been bitten, he declares, moments later needing to jump out of the way to avoid just that.

The tigers, lions, puma, ligers, and tigons are powerful in a way a human can never be. In his hyper state, pumped up by the presence of a camera, you can see how powerful Joe feels. The documentary is designed so that the audience can see that he loves these animals but he also controls them. His control is fickle.

As soon as his team tug the carcasses of goats and roadkill towards the animals, they go mad. They push up against the side of the wire mesh cage, knowing what’s coming. The humans chuck the meat into a separate one and open up the divider from the safety outside.

The animals push against each other as they race towards their target. I wonder if it’s play-fighting as they tug over a lump of meat, or if it’s a fight for survival.

I wonder if the humans are too. Whether they fighting against their demons and for a new, better life. Or maybe they love the big cats, and enjoy playing with them.

In the UK, we think we’re safe. We have laws that protect us and the animals.

Animal Welfare is something we’re taught about in school, many of us have called the RSPCA for one type of injured animal or another. We called them when a singed pigeon fell down our chimney, twaddling around our front room.

The Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981) gave protection to native species that once could sometimes be considered pets and prohibited the release of exotic species into the world.

Not that we can be sure that there aren’t exotic animals in the world. They were once owned by the wealthy. They were purchased in fancy shops, reared in nice houses and suddenly they were big. They were big and they were powerful. A Guardian article explores if the big cat citings are genuine or if now they are a mere figment of our imagination.

Once upon a time, they wouldn’t have been just figments of the imagination.

Owning exotic animals was once normal in the UK.

Harrods’ Pet Kingdom sold every animal you could imagine, providing you had the money.

They sold lions, tigers, alligators, and elephants alongside other animals. You could walk in and ask for a camel. The only response of the sales clerk would be ‘One hump, or two, sir?’

The 1976 Endangered Species Act changed all that. After legislation restricting the sale of exotic animals was brought in, they shifted to more traditional animals. The alligators, monkeys, and tigers were out. Cats and dogs were in.

In 2014, the decision was made to close the doors of Harrods’ Pet Kingdom.

Whilst tiger cubs and lion cubs are cute, they require more care than just a scratch or two. Their need for meat and care is greater than that.

Harrods’ Pet Kingdom closing was hailed as the end of an era. Animal rights activists cheered.

Yet the new Tiger King documentary raises more questions than it answers. Both the animals and the humans are intriguing, and their realities seem bizarre.

It makes for good TV and the lines between good and bad become blurred. It’s hard to sift between the good guys and the bad ones. The lines are blurry, perhaps deliberately so.

At the heart of it all are humans.

We don’t always know what is right. Humans can only act based on what we think is the best.

Our definition of what is right is always changing, as we re-evaluate the way we view the world.

Circuses once traversed the world showing off exotic animals in elaborate displays. Now the German Circus Roncalli brings animals to life through virtual reality.

Views change. People change.

If anything, Tiger King shows you that life is complicated.

Zoos and breeding practices are increasingly coming under pressure, from animal right activists and members of the public. And yet, they still have visitors.

The activities of many zoos are still hidden from view. We don’t know the truth of it or of the networks between them.

50 years ago, you could still buy tigers at Harrods.

In fifty years time, perhaps conversation will move more into the wild. Going to visit gorillas in a zoo might no longer be socially acceptable.

Exotic animals are mysterious to us humans. The draw of their powerful frames and big teeth entices us to learn more.