Original subtitles

[chirping]

[dramatic music]

- [Marlin] Wonderful, memorable moments,

many of these I shared with Jim Fowler.

- [Jim] We've helped capture hundreds of animals,

but this one had to rank among the most memorable of all.

- [Tim] I remember sitting in front of the TV

we had in our house, just inches away.

Just totally mesmerised watching Marlin Perkins

"Mutual Omaha's Wild Kingdom".

[leopard roaring]

We had Jacques Cousteau,

all these TV shows with all this adventure and animals.

- [TV Presenter] When Sam finally leaped out

after the fleeing buffalo,

it took only a moment for the situation...

- And I would say to myself,

"Man, I wanna go out, and I wanna catch these animals.

"I wanna be a person that can handle animals

"and get out there and do this kind of stuff."

I was trying to take that adventure I saw on TV,

and do it in real life.

It was just-- it was very exciting.

And from that point on, I just thought to myself,

you know, "This is what I want to do."

I loved it, absolutely loved it.

[laughter on TV]

As I grew a little older and got in my teenage years,

they were actually bringing the animals on TV shows

in front of TV audiences and everything else.

I thought, "Man, this is cool."

- [Johnny Carson] A very sensitive animal.

[audience laughs]

He punched me right in the mouth.

- But then this other guy shows up on the scene,

and all of a sudden, boom, Jim Fowler hand-off the baton,

and this guy ran with it, his name was Jack Hanna.

- [David Letterman] Jack! - He just exploded.

- [Letterman] Now, wait a minute.

Let's make sure one set of animals has cleared the area.

- [Jack Hanna] Oh, shoot, no!

- And became the number one animal celebrity in the world.

- [Jack] They were born in Columbus Zoo.

- Oh, they were born in the zoo? - Yeah, this one belongs to us.

- And what was so cool about it was that he was from Ohio.

He was from the Columbus Zoo,

just down the road from where I lived.

- The Director Emeritus of the Columbus Zoo...

- It was attainable for me to follow in his footsteps,

because he was one of us.

- Put your hand like this. - No, I think we've seen enough.

[audience laughs]

- And I was just on the verge, I was still young

and I was helping with other places,

and other zoos and everything else,

and I'm thinking, "Man, this is so cool.

"Someday I wanna be like Jack Hanna."

That was my dream.

I remember working as a police officer,

firefighter, paramedic for the city of Oakwood

here in Dayton, Ohio.

In between calls we'd watched TV.

And I always wanted to watch the animal shows.

- [Steve Irwin] Coming back real fast!

- But the style was changing so quickly.

- Neck starts to puff up,

that rapid tongue flicking, it's getting upset.

- They would tease these animals unmercifully

till they attacked the TV cameras.

And animals were running everywhere,

and they were harassed and were being teased.

- Look at the size of him, Jimmy!

- Jeff, you're scaring me.

- This form of television became so popular,

every TV show, all of them had their own animal guy.

- Please welcome Dave Salmoni.

Dave! [audience cheers]

- Please welcome Jarod Miller.

[audience applause]

- Nat Geo Wild big cat expert, Boone, nice to see you.

- Thank you for having me here.

- [Tamron Hall] What great work you do.

- And things changed, something happened.

All of a sudden I get a call from a local police department

by somebody having a tiger in their basement,

or somebody over here having

one of the most dangerous creatures on the planet,

a Gaboon viper.

And that's when I started realizing

this is not fun and games anymore.

It was a big problem,

and I was right in the middle of it.

- There are more captive tigers in the US today

than there are in the wild throughout the world.

- It turns out some states make it easier

to keep a tiger than a dog.

We wondered how someone...

- Nobody was ready for this huge influx

of these animals being bred and sold out to the public.

Well, with the reality TV mind-set,

the "monkey see, monkey do" mind-set, it happened.

I asked them, "Why did you bring this tiger in your home?"

"I watched a show on Animal Planet."

Bang, it's just that simple.

- Well, and apparently some of those animals

are still on the loose.

I know you're involved in the search.

We'll let you get back to it.

Tim Harrison, thank you.

- I was watching these two worlds growing at the same time.

You had the celebrity conservationists,

they come on TV, and they've got their

endangered species, their ambassador animals.

- [Jack] Rarest endangered cats in the world.

- And on the other hand, you had the seedy underbelly.

We had the backyard breeders.

We had the roadside zoos.

The absolute worst were these exotic animal auctions.

It was at these auctions, I saw those two worlds collide,

and it changed my life forever.

[tense music]

[gravel crunching]

[engine humming] - We're trying to figure out

where all the animals are coming from.

So Tim says he's going up to see

the exotic animal auction, and see what they're selling.

I said, "Well, Tim, if you're going,

I'm gonna come and be your backup."

[auctioneer shouting]

This is a very dangerous place, these auctions,

because within the first 10 minutes

we heard people talking about,

"If anybody comes in here with cameras,

"they'll be on their way out with a ball bat,

or a 2x4, or not such good shape as they came in."

[people chattering]

- You walk through this big mass crowd of people

and all of a sudden you see carts filled

with these cages, big cats, bear cubs, primates.

They all have numbers on them.

[monkey screaming]

[sniffing, whimpering]

A regular person can just buy themselves

an endangered species,

walk out of there without any paperwork whatsoever.

Just, here's my tiger cub, and off I go.

[auctioneer calling]

- As a police officer, firefighter, paramedic,

I've seen a lot,

and I've never seen anything like this in my entire life.

[monkey chattering]

If there was a hell for animals, this would be it.

[animals squealing]

[tense music]

♪♪

- When you look around, it's a who's who

of the most notorious,

exotic animal exploiters in the country.

And all of a sudden you see Sam Mazzola,

or you see over here a Terry Thompson.

He was the one who turned his animals loose

on the city of Zanesville.

And you look over here and all of a sudden I see

Cyndi Huntsman.

- This gal races up to Tim,

and it's Cyndi Huntsman

who has a roadside zoo outside of Columbus.

- And she approaches me and she goes,

"What are you doing here?"

And I looked and kinda was shocked, I go,

"What are you doing here?"

- [Rus] She says, "Well, I'm selling the animals

that Jack Hanna had on TV last month."

- "And I'm gonna pick up some other animals,

"because he has another late night show

he's gonna be doing."

- And I just about fell over.

[auctioneer calling]

- [Auctioneer] One female cougar, two weeks old.

- Could this be the same animals

that I'm pulling out of people's basements?

[auctioneer shouting]

[cubs squealing]

- It can't get any more weird than what I've just seen.

So I walk outside, and I look across the way

and... it's Jarod Miller.

- He's on Animal Planet,

he's on all the late night shows, morning shows.

- Look at this guy, now...

- [Tim] Here he is in person.

And he knows no cameras are allowed in there.

- I decide I'm gonna follow him, I'm gonna see what he's up to.

- You know, he wasn't there to shut down this auction,

he wasn't there to expose anything.

He was there to handpick animals that he wants to use.

Here he is feeding into the exotic pet trade.

And that's when I woke up.

My gears started working, I started connecting the dots.

And I realised, this is not an anomaly.

This is systemic, they're all combined.

- [Letterman] Imagine seeing that crawling out from under...

- Then I started paying attention

to the individuals in the background.

I started paying attention to the person that came off

and got the animal and walked off the stage with it.

I realised, I know that guy.

He's a guy that has all of his animals

in an industrial park warehouse.

And then I watch another show,

and somebody come out, I recognise that guy.

He has a backyard menagerie.

He is also a private breeder.

What are they doing with their ambassador animals?

Where do they go? What happens to them?

- [Boone] We've got Mr. Jake here.

He's what we call an ambassador animal.

So we use him as an ambassador

to showcase what a great animal he is,

how incredible these animals are,

and let people learn about them a little more...

- And as Jake grows up, what's gonna be in store for him?

- Um, Jake is at a zoo, and he's obviously...

- I have connections to almost all the AZA zoos

in the United States of America,

and these ambassador cats are not showing up there.

- [Dave Salmoni] You wanna grab him?

Watch your clothes. - [Fran] Where's his mama?

- His mum's at a nice little zoo somewhere.

- Aww...

- [Tim] As we look at all these we have out here,

we try to get a handful of them

that we can actually get some clean data on.

- One of our things we're working on here.

This is Millie, she's a Bengal tiger.

- [Tim] And we think we can potentially find out

what's happened to them and where they ended up.

- [Jack] Species Survival Plan,

we know exactly where these things are at all times.

- [Letterman] All right, okay. Wow, this is remarkable...

- [Carney Anne] We have this connected network

of individuals who are using big cats for public contact,

and then when they become too big,

too expensive to maintain,

we see them end up in the exotics market,

or because of defects in the laws,

we lose track of them,

because there's no meaningful mechanism

by which we can figure out

where these cats are coming from and where they're going.

Think strategically, and then err on the side

of being over-inclusive.

I'm Carney Anne Nasser,

and I am the director of the Animal Welfare Clinic

at Michigan State University College of Law.

The agency will get back to us and say...

I supervise law students in the practice of animal law.

Under my supervision, they tackle cases

under regulatory law,

litigation, policy, you name it.

Anything impacting animal welfare

where we can play a role in advancing the interests

of animals, that's what we're here for.

- You're gonna be our ambassadors

to try to find out what happened.

Working with Michigan State University's law school,

we're able to put it together now,

and give us some basis of where to go.

And I really do think we're gonna to find out

where some of these cats are.

Tiger Wyatt, Tiger Jake. Orange Tiger Jake.

- And what I'd like to start out with is have my law students,

through a series of Freedom of Information Act requests,

see what we can dig up.

And there would be records kept.

We're gonna do a broad request to find out

everything that's out there

to the US Department of Agriculture,

to US Fish and Wildlife Service,

and then to the relevant state agencies

to see what they've got. - And challenging cases.

- To the extent we don't find information,

I think that's very compelling to say

we don't even have a way to find this information out.

It just doesn't exist.

But I'll get my law students on it,

and we'll see what we can do.

- What I think anybody would expect

with any kind of a tiger or big cat,

I would think that that would be tracked

to a degree beyond anything else, right?

But there's probably better tracking

of a lot of domestic cats than there are tigers.

[tigers growling]

What else has gone on like in the last couple of years,

since I was here?

- We're gonna prepare this ground here...

- My name is Keith Gad,

and my background and training includes

conducting investigations, wildlife management,

conservation studies, and federal law enforcement.

What's gonna make this investigation so difficult

is the sheer number of big cats

that are out in America.

But you have to start somewhere.

Cy has a couple of tigers,

and so maybe he has an animal that we're looking for.

You know, where are these animals now?

And that's what we were hoping, you may or may not recognise

the names of a couple of these animals.

There was this three-month-old female tiger named Millie

that appeared on "The Today Show"

with Jarod Miller and Boone Smith.

- The folk that are using the animals on television,

I've called friends since I first got started.

- This guy looks familiar with Jimmy Kimmel.

- Do you not know who that is?

- I don't for sure. - I do.

- We have an idea.

Who is it? - Um...

The folk that are breeding and providing the animals,

these are all people that I know,

and that I've done business with.

We all work together.

- Then Millie, three months old in 2015.

- Right off the top of my head,

but, um, who's that in the background?

If somebody were to take interest

in trying to track down an animal

that they saw as a baby on a late night show...

I mean, God only knows where that cat originated from.

...I wouldn't bet more than a nickel

that if they had 100, that they'd be able to find

one of them.

I wouldn't even be interested in really engaging

in a genuine conversation about the possibility

of actually being successful in tracking down

any of them, let alone one.

- Just one of them that we're interested in seeing.

- Yeah. - Nothing?

- No. - Okay, all right.

[TV voices in background]

- We can try to call Jarod right now,

and just kinda... informally ask him

if he remembers Emma, and where she might've went to.

I can't say whether he'll answer the phone.

[keypad clicking]

[phone line trilling]

[dog barks in background]

[phone line continues trilling]

- [Jarod, on recording] Hi, you've reached Jarod.

Leave a message and I'll get back to you

as soon as I can, thanks.

[voicemail beeps]

- Hi, Jarod. It's Cy here in Ohio.

I was, um, calling with kind of a random question.

I was curious if you might remember

a cub that you had on "The Today Show."

Her name was Emma, a tiger cub.

- [Jarod] When Emma here is full grown, she'll be almost...

- [Cy] We're just kinda trying to track to see where

she might have went.

If you have any answer to that,

or you know by any chance, just give me a call back.

All right, hope you're doing well, bye.

[phone beeps]

- He's not gonna know where the animal's at,

or where it went.

I'd be surprised if he even remembered the animal, period.

He's not a bad person for not having those answers.

That's the nature of his business.

You just want to know what the cute tiger cub's name is.

- This is Millie, she's a Bengal tiger.

- [Tamron] Hi, Millie.

- [Cy] And what kind of natural behaviors it might have

when it's 400 pounds.

- They're very social, live in big prides,

let the females bring the food to them.

- [Woman] What a life.

- You don't want to hear

about any potential sad situation

that it's to succumb down the road.

Nobody wants to hear that.

- [Radio Presenter] Music and news

for the City of Good Neighbors, Buffalo, New York.

Music and news around the clock.

You're listening to WDAN.

- Once we got there, I'm gonna have you stay in the car,

and just keep an eye. I don't want to bum-rush him,

and make him feel like, whoa, jump back, "What's going on?"

- Right. - And I'm just gonna approach

and hand this to him,

and then start asking him about these cats,

you know, where these animals end up.

And then if he continuously talks,

I'm just gonna keep-- keep letting him talk.

We wanna get something stirred up here in Buffalo.

We wanna get it going that we're here

to find out about these animals.

So we're on, we're looking.

[car door closes] Is he here already or...?

- No, he's not. Loretta is though.

- [Tim] Okay, you got it. I'll just wait for him then.

That's no problem. You don't have to bother her.

The only person that's gonna answer this question

is gonna be the last person seen with her,

and that's Jarod Miller.

[inaudible conversation]

[indistinct chatter]

- [Woman] Or the people who are-- you know what I mean?

- [Tim] Yes. Let me grab...

- Do you just have a couple questions for him?

- [Tim] Yeah, I just need to talk to you about

5 or 10 minutes, that's it. - Yes, sure.

- Then we'll let you guys do what you need to do.

I'll bring you over here and talk over here a little bit.

Just between you and I. - All right.

- [Tim] I appreciate it.

Now, Jarod, you probably don't remember me too much, do ya?

- [Jarod] I don't, I don't know if we've ever met before.

- [Tim] We probably met a couple of times

at some of the auctions, some of the situations.

- [Jarod] Okay. - But what I have is,

I'm on a kind of a mission right now.

We're trying to find out what happened to some

of these cats. - Okay.

- They're your ambassador animals.

That's just a partial list. - Right.

- Those are the ones we're having a real hard time

trying to even find out what happened to them.

- Right. - Do you have any idea

where the snow leopard went by any chance?

- Well, this is a buddy of mine. I'm trying to remember.

I think that was one from, uh, I'm not exactly sure.

- 'Cause that was just last year.

- Well, I used to work at the Columbus Zoo,

and he raised a lot of snow leopards there.

- Okay.

- Then I don't really know exactly.

I don't know which ones were born at the zoo,

but I remember they would raise them for different...

- So the Columbus Zoo, this came from the Columbus Zoo?

- I believe so, yeah. - And it went back?

- I mean, like I said, I don't know.

Like I don't-- yeah, I don't keep the cat, so...

- Okay. These two especially

right here, Emma, and this lion here.

If you can tell me, if you can find out,

I'd really appreciate it, because we're in a process

of trying to find out where these cats are.

And it makes me a little bit mad a little bit that you guys

use them and you don't know where they go, you know?

- Yeah, like when it comes to like that kind of stuff,

Lee Huntsman that was in Ohio.

And Lee Huntsman was the one that,

they always had like cats.

But between like Lee Huntsman and Grant Kemmerer,

do you know him? - Not yet.

- He's more in Western PA, so he's about 3 hours from us.

- From here, okay. - But, yeah, anytime we need,

anytime we ever had something for a cat,

it was usually Grant, so...

- So really you don't know what happens?

You use them and then they go away?

- Yup. - And then that's--

you never see it again, right? - Yeah, no, I don't.

- You never see the cat again. All right, well...

- Nice meeting you, Tim. - Take care.

I'm disgusted.

You know how hard it was for me not to grab him,

and shake him?

Yeah, I'm done with him. I'm so pissed off right now,

I don't even want to talk to him anymore.

I just wanted to tell him, say,

"Listen, you're exploiting these animals,

and it's just not right."

- [Jarod] So I used to work at the Columbus Zoo,

and he raised a lot of snow leopards there.

- [Tim] Okay.

So the Columbus Zoo, this came from the Columbus Zoo?

- [Jarod] I believe so, yeah. - [Tim] And it went back?

- [Jarod] I know a guy named Lee Huntsman that was in Ohio.

And Lee Huntsman was the one that,

they always have cat...

[helicopter blades whirring]

[indistinct radio chatter]

[tense music]

♪♪

- We're on route to a location

that we think some of the ambassadors cats

have ended up.

It's deep, deep in a rural part of Pennsylvania.

Kinda-- it's dairy country is what it is.

Now, if you watch the shows and listen closely,

you'll hear Jack Hanna refer to this alleged zoological park

in Pennsylvania. - [Letterman] Where was it born?

- This was born at the zoological park in Pennsylvania.

- Oh, for heaven's sake.

- [Tim] And you'll hear Boone Smith refer to

a supposed sanctuary in Pennsylvania.

- So he's out of a sanctuary there in Pennsylvania.

And so these guys have a great facility where...

- [Tim] If you do just a little bit of research,

you'll see that there is no such zoo

or sanctuary that we can find.

It looks like it's got farm animals onto it.

This is definitely not a zoo or sanctuary.

I don't see anything at all

that would resemble any place for big cats.

And in my conversation with Jarod,

he refers to some guy in Pennsylvania named Grant.

That's it, you don't have no idea what happens to 'em afterwards?

- Usually like Grant Kemmerer. Do you know him?

- [Tim] Not yet. - [Jarod] He's in Pennsylvania.

- So this would be Grant Kemmerer,

who is seen behind the scenes a lot on TV

handling the animals, taking them off stage,

even wearing a Columbus Zoo uniform.

Right there, it says Columbus Zoo on there.

But he's not from the Columbus Zoo.

He doesn't own a zoological park.

He doesn't even have a sanctuary.

He has a private animal entertainment company

listed as his home address,

which is actually just a farm tucked away here

in the back country of Pennsylvania.

- Right on the other side of that hill

is where the property is.

- [Tim] Somebody's not telling the truth.

- Looking at the property,

just not seeing anywhere that anybody could keep big cats.

Really interesting to see what Tim finds out

up there talking with him.

- He's not there.

There was his mother-in-law and father-in-law.

And they said that he keeps his animals at another location.

It's up the road, and just back over this hill.

- So it's not the address on the USDA paperwork?

- No.

Said it's the second house... on the right.

- [Keith] So did they say go right at the farm?

- No, maybe it is back there.

"Road closed." I bet you that's it right there.

[tense music]

[gravel crunching]

♪♪

Something not right here.

[gears clunk]

They've got some cages up there.

Oh, this is bad. This is bad, Keith.

Look at these makeshift-- look at these cages.

- Yeah, this is definitely it.

- Every one of these little bitty cages

has animals in it.

Okay, right over there, it looks like a leopard.

That's a leopard. - It's a leopard.

- That's a leopard in the top cage right there.

This is just disgusting.

I've been telling people for years that these animals

are ending up in private people's backyards.

They got animals in corn cribs.

- Look at this, look at this one.

- It's just, it's stunning.

There's wolves up here, Keith.

- That's a big wolf. - Yeah, a real big wolf.

- And then, man, look at this right next door.

- If the cats we're looking for are on this property,

it's gonna really upset me.

[phone buzzing]

Keith, I just got two-- two missed calls here

while we were turning around here, from Miami, Florida.

That might be Grant's, because he's originally from

down that area, that might be his cell phone.

We are looking for these animals,

and we're looking for these cats,

especially for Savannah, and lion cub Tyson,

and black leopard Queen. How about Wyatt?

Wyatt was the one we had on a list here.

You have a pen and paper in your hand?

We just got off the phone with Grant Kemmerer.

It's actually stunning that he's confirming

that the animals we have on this list,

the cats we have on this list, is on his property.

So everything you have on this sheet

that I've given and everything else

is at your property? - [Grant] Yes.

- I mean, he even said, you know, Queen is with him

at a show as we speak.

He was on his way back from a fair,

so we know what Queen's doing probably.

- I text him, said, "How many cats do you have?"

And he texted back, "15-1,

"which is the one is a jaguar

on breeding loan to a zoo, and four lynx."

- So are they really there?

Is he just saying that to appease you?

And without getting onto the property,

we will never know.

- If these animals are on that property,

that's the worst place these animals could end up at.

And this is supposed to be a sanctuary.

This is not a sanctuary, this is a-- this is a prison.

And that's why these guys on TV are lying.

This is his work here, he does fairs and festivals,

birthday parties, schools, scouts, bar mitzvahs.

Oh, here we go, here's the list,

some of the animals you can have at your party.

Go down the list here.

Black leopard. Here we go.

Ever popular tiger cub.

And a male or female lion for a birthday party.

These cats that are sitting on these conservationist's laps

are going straight from their lap

into the animal exploitation trade.

They're loading up animals right now.

- [Keith] What's she doing?

She's checking the locks.

She either heard something and got worried, or something.

- I can guarantee there's a big cat in there.

And we're getting up on the interstate.

- Yup.

- ...because of myself.

[lion growls]

- [Woman] And you can say that the project's a success, right?

- In my opinion, it was a huge success.

I think the whole point of the project

was to go out there and teach these cats they can trust me.

[lion growls] Easy!

Good girl. I'm gonna come over here.

[audience laughs]

- [Girl] Oh, my!

- [Dave] All right.

Good girl.

[engine humming]

- Yeah, I was just down here not three months ago,

giving a guest lecture at a local university

about America's tiger crisis.

I think when I call it a crisis, sometimes people think

I'm speaking in hyperbole, but here we are,

tiger found chained in somebody's backyard.

[somber music]

♪♪

The only reason we know about this tiger is because

law enforcement officers were executing a search warrant

for something completely unrelated to this issue.

♪♪

And if they hadn't been doing that,

this tiger likely would still be on the end of that chain

in the backyard or possibly even dead.

[machine beeping]

- She still has the blood, indicating bleeding higher up.

- So I'm down here,

try to assess the situation,

determine what state, federal laws have been violated,

and what enforcement opportunities there may be,

and then get this cat to a reputable sanctuary.

♪♪

[indistinct chatter]

I just wanna find out where this cat came from.

♪♪

And she's one of the lucky ones.

So many of these animals,

they're gonna end up dying on the end of that chain

never to be found.

- [Man] What'd she do here? That's new.

- She's really underweight. She's got--

she had ear mites and a number of parasite issues.

And she's had really chronic, severe diarrhea.

[lion cub wails]

Appears that she's been-- she's rubbed her face raw.

In a number of spots, she's missing fur.

And her foot pads are cracked from being chained on concrete.

The current state of the law,

the patchwork state laws we have,

the insufficient federal laws

that are fraught with loopholes,

really give us no meaningful way of tracking

the coming and going of these critically endangered animals.

♪♪

- I'm here in Washington DC,

getting ready to go over, speak to senators, congressmen,

and congresswomen about the Big Cat Public Safety Act,

which is gonna help prevent the private ownership,

the breeding, all the problems we have with big cats

in the United States of America right now.

- Where we are now is, we only have two more days for--

in the House for people to co-sponsor.

- If we can get this federal law passed,

it's gonna go a long way to protect

both people and the animals.

Especially with the public safety aspect of it,

because he is a big supporter of law enforcement,

big supporter of first responders.

- Staffer Sarah has already learned about the issue,

but we want to convey to her

that this is really important to Ohioans.

- [Tim] I feel a little like a fish out of water,

and I'm out of my element right here.

- Proactive work by the agency.

- [Woman] It's a very small portion of the...

- [Tim] I'm not used to this chess game they play here

with the way politicians work.

- This should not be a political issue.

- [Tim] But it's something I'm learning.

- Let's see if he has any suggestions.

- [Tim] And luckily, I'm here working as a team.

And these are the men and women that can help me.

- ...know where the big cats are in their communities.

- We took six of these out of a house in Lancaster, Ohio.

This mountain lion was loose in downtown Dayton,

chewed through a door of an empty house.

Brought across state lines to Harlem

in this apartment building.

There's an African lion inside there.

We actually had a tiger jump over the firefighters

as they were fighting a house fire.

We're making it so it's just common sense

that you have to register your animal.

We wanna know where they're at

as cops, firemen, and paramedics.

- I guess I didn't really realise the extent

of how many animals there were, yeah.

- 38 big cats. - Yeah.

- I think in the long run it's gonna be worth the while.

I think the most amazing thing is,

is that people don't realise being on the frontline

of what's really going on out there.

And when you show it to them,

it's a whole different ball game.

...to Harlem in this apartment building.

- [Rus] The menagerie listed under species

is exactly the same. - They don't list two lion cubs.

- [Tim] The only cats I see is black leopard, cougar and tiger.

- [Carney Anne] At the time that that letter was written...

- The situation where it actually shows you

a tiger came from a backyard zoo,

taken to New York City, and put on "The Today Show."

We believe it was one of our tigers, Millie.

- There's no mention of any big cats at all.

And we know that there was at least two tigers and a lion,

and it seems that that information

is what's being kept from us.

- So we're trying to find a cat named Emma

that went from Jarod Miller to Andrew Simmons,

and the State of New York has no record.

[phone line trilling]

- Hey, Jeff, we are trying to look into

this tiger named Jake.

Jake was on a couple of TV shows.

We're not finding anything in the paperwork,

but we know that Jake ended up at a roadside zoo.

- [Jeff] Yeah, I remember the name is familiar,

so, yeah, let me do some research on that roadside zoo.

- All right, let's see what's next.

- We've got the dates on this one,

so it doesn't have any lions on here at all.

And we know for a fact there was lions there.

- We've tried to get records with the State Wildlife Agency,

but, um, they won't produce those records.

- So there's probably no way

we're gonna find out those two females?

- Be very, very difficult.

- You know, it's ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous.

- These records used to be provided,

and now we're in this new era of zero transparency

with the US Department of Agriculture.

The position that they've taken is to withhold

what the animal inventory is at the time

in their entirety.

- For all states? - For all states.

We have prepared an appeal against the USDA

to seek disclosure of these public records.

If they deny our appeal, then we are prepared to consider

all available legal options,

including litigation.

[pensive music]

♪♪

- [Tim] Look at that, right down there,

it says martial arts and some other thing down here.

- He's here from Animal Planet, please welcome Dave Salmoni.

[audience cheers]

- [Tim] Do you recognise that name at all, David Salmoni?

He needs to contact me right away,

because I think he can help me out.

- Okay, why don't you sit there?

[leopard grunts] [audience gasps]

He's just trying to get settled.

- Okay, we left a card,

don't know that's gonna do any good or not,

but at least we have one of the locations checked.

- Big teeth and big claws. - Big teeth and claw-- ow!

- Was this a good idea bringing this one into the studio?

- Well, you can see, at this age, they still like...

- [Tim] We got information directly to people

that know him,

but it's up to him now to do the right thing.

- What is this lion's name?

[audience cheers] Oh, no, he doesn't like it.

He doesn't like it. - Oh, he does.

- [Tim] This is his street right here, right here.

So I was just seeing if Dave was here.

I wanted to talk to him a second.

Okay, thanks.

My name's Tim Harrison, just have a question.

- [Dave] What can I do for you?

- The organization I'm with is Outreach for Animals,

and what we're trying to do is find out what happens

to cats after they've been used on TV.

This is the partial list of your ambassador cats.

I'd really appreciate if we can find out

what happened to some of these.

And we're looking especially for Mason, Tyson,

you know, the top page here, if you really look at it.

We have some other ones on here too,

but just to get a basic idea-- - What you have to realise is...

- I know, that's the downfall, that's what we're finding out.

And do you think it's right to do this with a cat

and then it just disappears, nobody knows what happens?

Oh, you do know where they all are? You know where everything's at?

And that's what we're trying to find out.

Where do they go after they're done?

- They don't go anywhere. - They don't go anywhere?

- They stay at their place, their accredited place.

- What's their accredited place? That's on this here?

That's an accredited facility?

- [Tim] No, but somebody at least that's accredited and--

So what we'll do is we have a certain set of criteria,

and so I and my providers,

and Animal Planet, and every time we partner,

anything that is ABC... - Okay.

- ...has to meet their criteria, right?

And then we at Discovery and Animal Planet,

because I've been doing this for 18 years...

I doubt you'll get the help.

If anybody ever decides to talk to you, great.

- How about you? - I just talked to you--

- Did you tell me where they're at?

Okay, then you didn't help me.

Dave, we have to change the way we're educating.

We also have to change the way things are going here, okay?

Now I'm asking you, I'm begging you to help.

I'm begging you.

- It's dumbfounding that we have to go to this extent

to find a protected endangered species

in the United States of America.

- As far as this, you see...

I'm not gonna expose these people to any level

of any extra, you know...

- Okay, but I asked, right? - You asked, good for you.

- But they're hiding it from us.

And that should be a huge red flag for the public.

- [Tim] Can't find them. Now, if we look for these--

- If you can't find them, that doesn't mean

that they've disappeared. It means...

- [Tim, on recording] Now if we look for these--

- [Dave, on recording] If you can't them,

that doesn't mean that they've disappeared.

That means you need to learn how to find them better.

[line disconnect tone]

- Challenge accepted.

[tense music]

My name's Jeff Kramer, and I've been involved

in animal welfare for over 30 years.

Animals have always been a passion of mine,

and my background has always been research.

So to be able to combine that research skill

and use it for the animals, like, it's a natural fit.

The world is all digital,

so every part of everybody's life

is probably somewhere out there waiting to be found.

It's just a matter of having the skills to figure out

how the pieces all come together.

- [Tim] Everybody we've talked to so far

have always pushed it off on somebody else

who doesn't know, or lost their records.

- Oh, that's not in my case.

- [Jeff] You know, it might be the picture,

it might be the video,

it might be the comment on a picture or a video.

- [Dave] I know where they all are, I know where they are.

- [Tim] Oh, you do know where they all are?

Then why can't anybody else find out where they're at?

- [Jeff] I've encountered some social media pages

where I've looked through 12,000 photos to find one.

And it's like, bam! [hand slaps]

There it is.

- [Tim] I'm talking about backyards.

I'm hoping so.

So none of these are in a roadside zoo, or--

[tense music]

♪♪

[children shouting, screaming]

[rooster crowing]

- [Tim] Yeah, when I came in to Critter Country here,

a gentleman, I think is the owner,

recognised me right away.

And I said, "I'm here to come see your big cats."

And he didn't pull any punches, he told me what was going on,

and he ended up basically telling me that

some of David Salmoni's ambassador cats are here.

He even told me that some of those cats, believe it or not,

was raised in his own home, raised in their living room.

[keyboard clacking]

He had a black leopard that was actually

the one that was used on the "Tyra Banks Show,"

when he came out as Tarzan, and then he took that cat out.

And it was not happy. [leopard growling]

- But these guys are actually really rare-- okay.

[leopard growls] - [Tyra screams]

- Okay, you ready?

She's fine. Okay.

That's just her sort of saying, hey...

- [Tim] This cat didn't end up going

to an accredited professional facility.

This animal ended up in a petting zoo,

just a backyard menagerie.

It's even called Critter Country Farm.

[audience applause]

The other yellow leopard that's been used

quite a bit by David Salmoni and was on Jimmy Kimmel's show,

and in fact Paris Hilton held it.

- [Jimmy] Paris is very comfortable with this animal.

- You an see she's an old pro. - I love animals.

- [Tim] And then also it was used on that

"Fran Drescher Show." - [Fran] Oh, you sweet thing.

- [Tim] Ended up, when its use was done,

when it reached a certain size, it was dumped also here,

and put in the same small cage as the black leopard.

- [Fran] And what is the future for this animal?

- [Dave] This guy's gonna be what they call an education animal.

So he'll go around and he'll be

teaching people about conservation.

So he'll be...

- The sad part is, for five to eight years,

they've been living in this condition right here,

five to eight years.

These cages are only about 15 foot by 15, maybe 10 feet.

They're separated, each one's a separate cage.

While this is going on right now,

they had to move them out of these cages,

and be placed in the holding cages,

which is basically just traveling cages,

small ones so that they can fix the fencing.

So for the last three weeks,

they've been living in these travel cages.

This is why David Salmoni can't tell people the truth.

- There's no positive, there's no upside to telling you...

- The truth, telling the truth. - Right.

- There's no upside to telling the truth, okay.

This is why he can't say, you know,

when I'm done with this cat, doing the circuit,

the TV shows and all the photo ops,

he can't tell you that they ended up,

you know, dumped into a farm in Pennsylvania.

- [Dave] You wanna grab him? Watch your clothes.

- [Fran] Where's his mama?

- His mum's at a nice little zoo somewhere.

- [Fran] Aww!

- In the name of conservation,

they allowed these two ambassador cats

to breed here in this backyard.

[keyboard clacking]

It's so sad.

[keyboard clacking]

We really do have to pay attention

to what these conservationists are saying.

- [Woman] ...furry friends. Hi, Jack.

- Hello. - [Woman] Who do you have there?

- [Jack] This is a baby leopard, and the leopard's....

- A perfect example, Jack was on a TV show,

he had a leopard, a leopard cub on there.

And he's talking about, it was part of the SSP,

Species Survival Plan. - [Jack] Very endangered animal,

it's in the Species Survival Plan

with American Zoo and Aquarium Association.

So we monitor every one of these cats,

wherever they're bred, and this animal...

- The SSP, the Species Survival Plan

is actually a legitimate program with the AZA.

So I immediately went to the SSP books, the studbooks,

opened them up, we tried to find that leopard.

Couldn't find it. That cat's not there.

If it's not in that book,

it does not exist in the SSP.

That got me thinking, "What's going on here?"

When he was finished with the cub,

and he was done with it, a woman came on,

and she started to walk off with the leopard cub.

It was Grant Kemmerer's wife.

Why is Grant Kemmerer's wife

taking a leopard cub that's allegedly an SSP cat

off of Jack's lap and disappearing

off the stage with it?

[tense music]

We started to investigate a little deeper.

We went in and found some paperwork, found a transfer,

six months after that TV show

taking a leopard from Grant Kemmerer

to Critter Country Farm.

How do we know if that was the same cat

that Jack Hanna had on his lap? We'll never know.

♪♪

[birds chirping]

[indistinct chatter]

Let me see if I can help out.

[muffled voices in distance]

All right, well, she's definitely not

going to work with us.

She's definitely not gonna turn over any cats.

In her mind,

she knows something bad can happen,

but she says, "We'll just take it as it comes."

What you see back there is the absolute poster child

for why we need the Big Cat Public Safety Act.

[sirens wailing]

- [Woman] Clayton County 911, what's the location of your emergency?

[airplane engine roaring]

- Here I am coming back to Washington DC again.

I got a call from Jason Osborne.

Jason has got his fingers on the pulse out here.

He's working with the Big Cat Public Safety Act here

on a national level.

So he knows what's going on.

And he says we have a big issue right now.

So we're gonna find out what that is.

- But we've been confronted recently with

what we feel is a good opportunity,

and a good member, Senator Portman

from your home state, he's a great guy,

very knowledgeable about this issue,

and wants to do the right thing on this.

And what we came to realise is that Jack Hanna

and the Columbus Zoo have come in

and kind of put a halt on it.

He's been to DC quite a bit on this specific issue.

He's been into the members' offices.

He's on the phone with staff.

And for one person to hold this up

in this senator's case, it's tragic.

- Well, whenever we go to these offices,

people are like, "You should get Jack Hanna involved."

We're like, "He is absolutely the biggest problem

that we're facing."

- Well, we're in a tug of war, right now.

Every time we start pulling,

the other side starts pulling a little of that back.

- As you're walking out the door of these offices,

you can bet that it won't be long

after you're out of the building

that they're gonna be in there opposing it.

- [Jason] For folks to come up here,

and they bring these animals up here--

- They're bringing animals to Washington DC?

- Oh, yeah. - Oh, wow.

- Every year there's actually,

right over there in the House in the Longworth Building,

every year there's a reception that Doc Antle hosts

where he brings in tiger cubs.

- Every year? - Every year.

So some of these congressmen that have been

our opponents for years are hosting him.

In DC, the law is, you're not allowed

to touch these animals.

You know, this is illegal, but yet they still let it

continue to happen because it's happening in Congress.

- Wow! - Yeah, it's awful.

- How do you fight that? How are you fighting it, Jason?

- Exactly.

- It's such a difficult thing to overcome,

because when somebody's standing in the presence

of a cheetah or some other magnificent animal,

they're just focused on, when do I get to pet it?

They're not thinking about the underlying issues.

So it just causes such a huge problem for us

to be able to try and overcome.

[keyboard clacking]

- The only thing that could overcome this is,

while the Columbus Zoo is the biggest zoo in Ohio,

there are a number of other AZA zoos in Ohio.

The AZA supports the bill.

So if we could get those guys to sign on,

so we could go in and prove

that Columbus and Jack Hanna are outliers,

that they're on the wrong side of this issue.

That is the only way that we're going to be able

to get through.

- I'm calling to speak with Liz Fowler.

Hey, this is Tim Harrison. I was calling to speak with Thane Maynard if he's in.

This is Tim Harrison calling back for Bob,

he told me to give him a call back.

- [Bob] Thanks for reaching out to us.

- This is their baby.

So we really need you all to step up and do the right thing.

- That's great, that's exactly what I wanna hear.

Just staying away from private breeders, private ownership.

Unless you're involved with anything like that,

you're doing fine.

- [Thane] I know you know...

So he must have sent four out of five to...

- So there's nothing we can do about that.

What I'm doing is trying to get the four zoos here,

because I know I'm not gonna get Columbus.

- We'll do some process here.

I imagine we can weigh in. - Excellent.

[Liz Fowler speaking]

- That's good, that's good. I like to hear that.

- I can't thank you enough, Liz, that's encouraging,

that's exactly what I wanna hear.

Looks good.

Now she's got the Northeast zoos,

that's Cleveland, Toledo, and Akron.

- [Man] Let me talk with our curators tomorrow,

and I'll get a sense of where they are.

- Yeah, I haven't talked to Doug yet,

but I'm going up to Detroit Zoo with Ron Kagan up there,

he's a big supporter, and have a conference call with Doug from the Akron Zoo.

And we're gonna see if we can't get on the same page.

- [Doug] Modern standard is and what the expectation is, I doubt it will work.

- So my suggestion, because I think Tim in a way

has put a challenge in front of us,

I'd like us to be in front of it rather than others actually.

- [Doug] I totally agree with you.

And the bottom line is...

- Absolutely right.

- [Doug] And we are the leaders in animal care and welfare.

And that then requires us to take that position.

- It's not some radical extreme view.

This is, we want to keep your kids safe,

if you're our neighbors,

and we want to keep the animals safe.

Why is anyone arguing about that?

- I had a fan that used to show up at my shows,

because I used to do live shows.

I would come to places and show animals I rescued.

So he'd show up and he'd talk about snakes.

He was big in snakes, and he really loved--

I'd get him up and help him hold the big 15-, 16-foot python.

He loved it, he loved the snakes and the pythons.

And he saw me working with these animals.

He watched all the newscasts and all the TV shows I was on.

Go back to being a paramedic

after... being Jungle Tim for while.

It's what I've done for national shows and also local shows.

And this is what the kids and the families like,

me come out with my jungle hat.

And it's kind of a persona that they like.

There was pictures, his sister showed me

and my friends of him actually having a jungle hat

like I was wearing and having a snake.

Well, these snakes here are people's pets.

They'd be buying through the Trading Post classified ads,

through advertisements. What they see on national...

That's when I learned the "monkey see, monkey do" thing

really hit me hard.

With Ted, they said

his girlfriend and he were in the house,

and apparently Ted went down and tried to get the snake

and fell into the snake, into the cage.

The snake got hold of him.

It was a 15-foot Burmese Python he had.

Constricted him and killed him.

- [Woman] Please, the snake's wrapped around his neck, ma'am.

Please, he's got blood all over. Oh, my God, please!

[sirens wailing]

Please!

- That changed me a lot when it came to...

wanting to continue doing like what Jack Hanna

and the rest of them do, bringing animals out

and showing them to people.

I started realizing that maybe

I'm part of the problem in a sense,

I'm part of the solution.

People were not listening.

I did not want to be that person anymore.

I didn't want the jungle hat anymore.

I didn't want to do that stuff anymore.

These kids are gonna imitate it. The adults are gonna imitate it.

And that's not the only person I lost that I knew,

but that was the one that actually looked me in the face

and call me his hero.

- [TV Presenter] West, northwest around

18 miles per hour right now.

So a little bit breezy...

[turn signal ticking] - Yeah, we're gonna

head on down this way. Should be up a few blocks here.

[knocking on door] On the left.

I need to go around back and see what happens.

Hi, any of you guys know Boone Smith?

- [Man] Yeah, Boone's next door.

- Well, we've got the right spot.

This is the town he lives in.

[knocking on door]

I hate going to somebody's home,

I hate having to go to their place of employment.

This is definitely his house.

But they're forcing me to do this

when all they had to do is get on the phone and call.

Gotta look for a Sierra truck also, too.

Oh, here we go. Here we go.

Hey, Boone. - [Boone] Found him.

- How you doing? Tim Harrison. I'm a retired cop.

What I'm trying to do is figure out what happens

to some of these cats that were used as ambassador animals.

- Okay. - See if you can't help me out.

You're my last resort, really. - Okay.

- Do you have any idea what happens to them at all?

- Your ambassador cats, so it's kind of like one

of those situations where we're trying to figure out.

- Think they do end up back in zoos or some place like that?

- Okay, where you think they come from then?

- Like facilities.

Would you think like private owners or something like that?

Okay, it just makes me aggravated because as we go out

to try to find these animals, we can't find them.

That's scary, and to me, Boone, that's not right.

- Where are they going? If they're not going to an accredited sanctuary,

where the hell are these cats going?

When I go over to the tiger projects,

we know where those tigers are, okay?

We can't find a tiger that was in your lap

on a "Good Morning America," or something?

You know what I'm talking about. You feel my pain, right?

- All I care about is Jake,

all I care about is Jingles, all I care about Queen.

I don't care about what happens to you or anybody else right now.

All I care about is these cats, you see what I mean?

Take that with you, but I want you to hold on to it.

No, you have to keep that because later on you're gonna want

to know why you didn't call me, you really are.

No, you really are.

I need a shower.

[engine turns over]

Same garbage, same bull

that every one of them said,

same garbage, same bull, same everything.

[tense music]

I told him, I said, "These cats are missing."

And here he is, the number one big cat expert in the world,

and he, "I don't know, I can't help you."

- [Boone] You're asking-- - You don't know.

- You're asking questions.

- I hand him the folder, and he holds it in his hand,

doesn't even look at it. He tries to give it back to me.

- No, you have to keep that... Here's a folder with your cats,

your ambassador animals are missing.

And he pushes them back at me

'cause he does not want that in his hands.

...why you didn't call me, you really are.

No, you really are.

- Jingles is a Bengal tiger, another one

of our animal ambassadors. [tiger meows]

One of the animals that we highlight in this--

[tiger yowling]

- [Savannah] What does that sound mean?

- Right off the bat, he admitted to it.

He admitted to what I've been saying for years,

that these animals are coming

from private dealers, private people.

- This is Millie, she's a Bengal tiger.

- Straight forward, right to my face,

do they go to zoos? "No."

Do they go to private people?

"Yes."

That's historic, that's absolutely amazing.

That explains it all.

- [Boone] I guess I shouldn't say.

- [Man] As Jake grows up, what's gonna be in store for him?

- Jake is at a zoo,

and he's what we call an ambassador animal.

- Is it true that their skin is actually striped too?

- Yeah, underneath, yeah.

The cool thing about their stripes,

it's like a fingerprint for us.

It's an individual pattern that is specific to him and identifies him.

And that's a really cool thing about tigers.

They can identify him by his stripes.

- What's unique about the tiger,

and it's unlike the lions and some of the other cats,

is that their stripes are just like our fingerprints.

No two are alike, and they never change.

So if you have a good photo, or a good video,

you can actually identify that tiger

when it's an infant all the way throughout its life.

So I wanna update you guys on a little progress.

I think I've got something very interesting

you guys may wanna see.

It's utilizing how we can identify the tigers,

individual tigers by their stripes.

- We'll put it on right now. - Tee it up.

- [Jeff] So I started trying to match the stripes

on the tigers we are looking for

with stripes on the tigers out there on social media.

And I came across this post.

It's a tiger cub being exploited at the same time

that Boone Smith had a cub.

And the post refers to the same name, Jake.

- [Boone] Yeah, this is Jake.

And he's here to teach us a little bit about

some of these big cats.

- Wow. - [Jeff] Now here's the kicker.

The post is from Cyndi Huntsman in Ohio,

and the tiger's being used as a mascot

for a high school football team called the Massillon Tigers.

- Yeah. I'm from Ohio.

And the Massillon High School's

a very well known football dynasty up there.

And for years, and years, and years,

they used a tiger cub to promote their Friday night lights.

So each tiger cub was called Obie.

So what it is, is that every year, they'd get an Obie,

sometimes an Obie would die, they'd get another Obie.

And it's still counted as Obie One, Obie Two,

Obie Three, Obie Four. And then to be moved on

after you're no longer used who knows where.

- [Jeff] Yeah, that's what I'm looking at right here.

[children chanting "Obie"]

They, you know, drag him around these huge student gatherings

in elementary schools with hundreds of kids screaming.

[kids screaming]

- This is unbelievable.

- [Jeff] The tiger actually has physical contact

with the kids on a couple of occasions.

[kids screaming]

- And yet this is a facility where the USDA

continued to renew this person's license.

- This is the same place that Jack Hanna gets his cats from,

The Stump Hill Farm.

[kids screaming]

- [Jeff] So here's where it gets really interesting.

So I went and got some screen captures

when Boone Smith had Jake on "The Today Show."

And when I looked at that same time period,

the Massillon High School tiger mascot was

Obie number 43.

And then I lined up those stripes,

stripes line up exactly.

So I got a fingerprint 100% match.

Jake is Obie number 43.

- Absolutely. Good, good job, good job.

- Arc over the right eye. - Yeah.

- [Boone] Everybody that I know we've used in the past,

they're licensed and legit.

Like the time I've been involved...

- [Jeff] Just to be clear, this was going on the same time

that Boone Smith was using Jake as an ambassador cat.

- ...is to let people know that these guys

are in danger and we need to protect them.

We wanna do what we can to bring awareness,

to help people have some knowledge

that we need to do some things and step in and save these guys

before they do get in trouble.

[melancholy music]

♪♪

- To do this all the time,

you're talking about a lot of young animals.

- [Tim] Every year, it's new every year.

- Every a year, and every show

you have to have something different.

Where are all these animals?

[upbeat music]

♪♪

[tigers growling]

These little guys are a little over a year old.

We got them at the start

of the picture cub season last year.

They'll be here for 18 to 20 more years.

- [Tim] I've known Mary Haven for years.

She does a great job.

Her whole mission is to care for other people's mistakes.

- It's like a puppy mill.

It's the same thing as a puppy mill,

only bigger and...

- [Tim] More dangerous.

- [Mary] More dangerous, yeah.

[tiger growling]

- [Tim] It's a great facility, it's not open to the public.

Most people don't even know it exists.

- I don't know where he came from,

but I do know he went to the circus.

- [Tim] The circus, okay. It's only a few of us

big cat people in the rescue business

that know that she even has a place down there.

- [Mary] And also, we let all the growth in the cages

grow up because it's cooler for them,

and they love to hide in it.

If we were open to the public,

that's not gonna be very pleasing

because they're never gonna see an animal.

- [Tim] If I had endangered species,

that I've been using as ambassador animals,

where would be a perfect place for me to dump these animals?

- That they will let them come here

is because I don't name names. It's not that I don't want to...

- [Tim] It would be hidden in the hills of Tennessee,

out of sight, out of mind.

- And how old are these, you said?

- [Mary] Almost two.

- Jingles was born in... wait a minute.

No.

- [Mary] Come on, buddy, Sven, come here, boy.

- [Tim] So this is Sven, huh?

- Come here, come, come.

[leopard growls] He'll snarl.

- [Tim] So Sven and Olaf.

- [Mary] Yeah.

- [Tim] So you know, I'm just not used to seeing

a snow leopard in a rescue environment.

- There are not as many snow leopards in the private market,

which is where most rescue animals come from.

[camera clicks]

So it is more rare for a sanctuary to have them.

- Where did these guys come from?

- They came from a facility in Kansas

that does a lot of breeding of AZA animals.

And that's where they came from.

- We have the most adorable snow leopard.

- [Jack] If they start crying a little bit,

everyone at home, they're doing fine.

- Oh, this poor guy is scared. - [Jack] And that fur--

you see, George, you feel that fur?

- Is there a possibility Sven and Olaf

were potentially used as a cub on TV?

- No, I don't think they do

any commercial activities like that.

They do not do any handling within the zoo.

And as far as I know,

I don't know of any of them that go off site with animals,

or entertainment industries at all.

If you're gonna be accredited by the AZA,

there are certain rules and standards

that have to be followed,

or you will be eliminated from the accreditation.

- Six to 12,000, 15,000 feet,

there's very few left in the world, we don't even know.

They're beyond critically endangered right now.

The animals, when they get...

- This is a snow leopard, so-- [leopard grunting]

- [Woman] What's he doing that for right now?

- [Man] He wants down time.

- I think that you got lied to.

This is Sven and Olaf on "Good Morning America,"

they haven't hardly had their eyes open yet, all right?

A VIP party with Jack Hanna. It's quite stunning.

This is Wrigley Field,

and they were passing them around,

so everybody get their pictures taken.

This is the coach dragging Sven.

He didn't wanna go, and he was dragging him along.

Those two little ones that were so small

their eyes were about-- still almost closed,

being transferred around from motel to van.

- It's definitely not good for their health

to take them when they're that young.

It's very, very stressful.

I didn't know they'd been used for, um, encounters.

That may attribute to

having lost some of them at early ages.

The little lion, he was still very young.

He was like maybe a year and a half at the most.

There's several, and we really...

- After our trip to Tiger Haven,

where we were surprised that they had

two endangered snow leopards,

we're talking, and we find out that it wasn't just two.

That she had had, I don't know, four or five, maybe six.

- We have gotten several snow leopards.

- Why are they being sent to a rescue facility anyway?

They're an endangered specie.

Not only that, but they're not living long, they're dying.

- We've lost several snow leopards.

They are not the healthiest animals in the world.

- The fortunate part of it

is that the Species Survival Program

has studbooks for the snow leopard,

where each and every snow leopard

is supposed to be tracked from birth to death.

[dramatic music]

There's a pretty common path to Tiger Haven.

They're coming from a place called Tanganyika,

which is out in Kansas.

Tanganyika is a non-AZA facility,

and they have a pattern of transferring them out.

The Columbus Zoo is a very common place where they're sent

as early as days to weeks of their birth.

- [Sam Champion] So when do the eyes open?

Because they look like they're just...

- They're only there for six months.

They go right back to Tanganyika.

Then they will go to other places.

We see what looks like just people's names,

and one of them we found out is a magician.

So there's-- there's a lot of concern here.

As you get into the more recent population,

we start seeing a lot of "LTF,"

"lost to follow up."

[keyboard clacking]

In regard to long-term research studies,

"lost to follow up" means you lose track of someone.

So whatever reason,

sometimes you're going to have an LTF.

Throughout the first, I mean, over 100 years,

all of these pages, you see very few "lost to follow up."

That's the sign of a legitimate program, right?

And then all of a sudden in these recent years,

you see Columbus Zoo, Tanganyika,

and then whatever other place,

and it immediately lists it as a "lost to follow up."

[keyboard clacking]

And just a rough count, I'm somewhere up to

about 13 or 14 from Tanganyika.

And that's more than we saw in the first

at least 90 years of the program.

- [Jack] Then what we call the Species Survival Plan,

which means we know where every one of them is located.

We have chips in these.

- This is a pattern of dumping.

It's a way of washing their hands of that snow leopard.

Nobody's going to follow up after that.

They assume it's gone.

- So, nobody even-- the only people that know these animals

are here is us, pretty much?

- Pretty much.

- Species Survival Plan with American Zoo and Aquarium Association,

which means we know where every one of them is located.

We have chips in these.

Again, a snow leopard, what you're holding here,

there's very few left in the world, we don't even know.

They're beyond critically endangered right now.

- [Keith] Right here. - Now how old are these?

- [Jack] These are about eight weeks.

- [Sam] Eight weeks old. - Eight weeks old.

- [Sam] So when do the eyes open?

'Cause they look like they're just barely

opening up.

- The studbook records, these cats are five weeks old.

And what I don't get is,

what difference does that make to Jack

whether they're eight weeks old or five weeks old?

- I'll tell you exactly what difference it makes.

It's a difference between violating industry standards

for public contact with cubs under eight weeks of age,

and not violating those standards.

- Wow.

- It is highly reckless and irresponsible

to have cats whose immune systems are still compromised,

passed around on a morning talk show,

presented as being older than they really are.

- [Jack] These are about eight weeks.

- So it is no surprise to me that Hanna is telling

these hosts that this cat is eight weeks old

when this cat is not eight weeks old.

- [Jack] These are about eight weeks.

Rob and Sam, these are one of the rarest cats in the world,

live in the Himalayas,

and these animals live anywhere from

6,000 to 12,000, 15,000 feet.

- Looking through these records,

they are literally being subjected

to the most detrimental circumstances

immediately upon birth.

- Oh, snow leopard.

- Tearing cats away from their mothers,

forcing them to appear on television shows

when they are immunocompromised.

- All of this is harmful, and we see that

manifesting in their death.

- [Jack] These guys are only a few weeks old.

- [Keith] We know that this is Casper at five weeks old.

Casper was dead at two years old.

- This is not working.

We've got death, death, death.

Lost to follow up, which means most likely dead too.

- 21 days or so, send it Columbus,

three days later, it's dead at Columbus.

- This is a snow leopard, one of the rarest cats in the world.

This animal lives in Nepal, Tibet, at very high altitudes.

And they're absolutely one of the most fantastic cats in the entire world.

- [Woman] So how old is this one?

- Looking through the annual reports from Tanganyika,

they list only one death of a snow leopard,

and that was at age 18.

- It's a liability on their record.

They're sandbagging their record,

and the book shows it perfect.

Once it gets LTF on here, there's no more record.

- Wow.

- This is just extremely troubling.

- Something's gotta be done.

I gave him a free pass for a long, long time,

and I knew something was wrong,

but I wasn't quite sure.

And I kinda put a blind eye to it,

and I did what everybody else did,

and said, "That's just Jack."

[dramatic music]

♪♪

There's times I sit and I think about what's gonna happen.

[audience laughs] - That's how we did it.

I said for the first show I brought a hippo...

- It bothers me that I have to go down

and go face to face with my, uh-- my hero.

I'm thinking, man!

[audience applause]

And I think about what's gonna be the effect of this.

There's a part of me that doesn't want to expose him.

There's a part of me that wants to leave him as the Jack

that I knew when I was a kid.

- Hey, everybody.

- And then there's a part of me that sits there,

and I think about all those endangered species

sitting on his lap, I see their faces.

[audience applause] - Thank you so much.

- I can't step back and allow this

to continue happening because they don't have a voice.

[crowd muttering]

I approach him, and I ask him for help,

and I show him the faces.

It's gonna be totally in his ballpark,

because what his reaction is,

is how this investigation is gonna continue.

Hey, Jack. - [Jack] How you doing?

- [Tim] How you doing, man? I just wanna stop and say hi.

I wanted to talk to you too. - [Jack] No problem.

- But the problem is, is that we've been doing a little investigation.

We're trying to find out what happens

to the ambassador cats after they're done with.

- Right, right. - And what we've done is that--

- Here's Suzi Rapp. - Hey, how you doing?

You probably don't remember, Tim Harrison.

- Suzi Rapp's been with me since I was 39 years at the zoo.

- Yeah. - She now is called by everybody

in the country when it comes to cheetahs or any cat.

- [Suzi] I'm on the Animal Welfare Committee.

- [Tim] I know exactly who you are.

It's very impressive. I was telling Jack,

we're in the process of doing an investigation

on what happens to the ambassador cats.

Once they're done with on the circuit,

where do they go? 'Cause we have like 200 of them,

and I narrowed it down to 25.

Yeah, it goes back, and it goes all the way through here too.

You can see the different cats. - [Suzi] Yeah, yeah.

- [Jack] These animals here, you know about the Wilds, right?

- [Tim] Oh, yeah, beautiful place.

- [Jack] 10,000 acres. - [Tim] So these cats are at the Wilds?

- [Jack] Well, no, we have them there, but let's say the Wilds,

Suzi Rapp, that's up to her. She runs the show.

- [Tim] Oh, okay. - [Jack] Let's say somebody had to bring an animal

out there, and they want to have some there,

obviously they'll go to the Wilds.

But these cats, like I said,

they're like incredible where they go...

- [Tim] They're the ambassador cats.

And also I just wanna verify something.

I was just back from Senator Portman's office,

and he told me, and I was shocked,

because I'm pushing for the Big Cat Public Safety Act,

I'm pushing for it, and he told me,

he said, "No, I'm not going to do it.

"'Cause Jack Hanna doesn't wanna do it,

and the Columbus Zoo doesn't want to do it."

That's why I'm here to ask. - [Suzi] Can I tell you why?

- [Tim] Yeah. Okay, I wanna hear.

- [Suzi] Because you're gonna shut down...

- [Tim] I'm not shutting down anything,

I'm just looking for the law enforcement part.

- [Suzi] ...by supporting that law,

because that law shuts us down. - [Tim] Oh, it shuts you down?

- [Suzi] Just to let you know, it shuts me down.

If we remove the animals from connecting people with them,

they will not participate.

I'm all about laws,

and I'm all about regulation as long...

- [Tim] I don't want this little guy hearing it.

- [Man] How's it going? - [Jack] Nice to see you.

- [Man] You all right? Can we get a picture with you?

- [Tim] I'll let you go, but I appreciate it.

We're trying to find out, okay?

We're just trying to find out. - [Man] Say cheese, Ry.

- [Tim] I'll let you guys go. - [Man] Cheese.

Thank you, sir. - [Jack] Trust me,

if she knew of somebody doing this stuff, like the bad stuff,

she'll be calling you overnight.

- [Tim] Okay, hang on to my card.

- [Suzi] I'm on the Animal Welfare Committee.

- [Jack] You've got a card? - Yeah, she's got got my card.

I'll let you guys go. I loved it, Jack.

Stay safe.

- [Jack] We always use the country, these animals here,

you know about the Wilds, right? 10,000 acres.

- [Tim] So these cats are at the Wilds?

- [Jack] No, we have them there, but say the Wilds,

Suzi Rapp, that's up to her. - [Tim] Oh, okay.

- [Jack] Say somebody has to bring an animal out there

and they want to have something there,

obviously they'll go to the Wilds.

- [Tim] Okay. - [Jack] But these cats, incredible where they go.

- [Tim] They're the ambassador cats.

[melancholy music]

♪♪

[camera clicks]

[tiger growling]

- To this day, and I'm thinking in my mind,

why am I doing this?

'Cause it's not-- I've lost--

I've lost everything with these people.

These are the people I looked up to.

I looked up to Jack Hanna when I was a young man.

It's one of those things, am I doing any good?

But I think I am, by exposing,

but is anybody gonna be out there to step up

and back us up?

Is there gonna be anybody that's gonna come out

of the conservation world of these people

and say, "Tim, I'm with you, brother, this ain't right"?

And so far we ain't got it.

And, uh...

♪♪

[indistinct announcements on PA]

♪♪

- [Carney Anne] Hey, Tim, it's Carney Anne.

Let me just preempt this by saying it's not good news.

I just received back a response relating to my request

for records about that roadside zoo

connected to Jack Hanna.

The response that I received from

US Fish and Wildlife Service,

it says that they can neither confirm nor deny

if any such records exist.

So I just-- this is gonna be a dead end.

It would take years to litigate this.

[sirens wailing]

- [Howard] Hey, Tim. It's Howard Baskin.

Listen, last time we talked,

it sounded like you were right on track

to get these other Ohio zoos to send letters

to Senator Portman's office.

And, you know, our folks in DC just came from the office,

and they have not received not a single one

from any of these zoos.

I don't know what's happened,

I don't know if the Columbus Zoo

or Jack's got to these zoos,

and applied some kind of pressure, or what.

So, you know, we haven't received anything.

I don't know where things stand, so could you give me a call

and let me know where things are?

- [Jack] We're trying to stop a lot of that.

And the animal also probably, I would say,

are in quite numbers,

not like a lot of cats throughout the world.

We have some issues with the hunting for jungles.

It's very difficult to even find these cats, everybody.

[TV clicks off]

[dog barking]

[phone buzzing]

- My phone's exploding. We got all kinds of texts.

Said I gotta get in contact with him,

something about Joe, Joe Exotic.

I've gotta pull over somewhere here,

drive down here, and see if I can

get out of the traffic a little bit here.

Hey, Rus, what's going on here?

I'm gonna put you on speaker real quick here.

All right, man, what's going on?

- [Rus] Are you near a-- are you near a computer?

- No, no, I'm out on the road right now.

- [Rus] They've got the news, breaking news,

that Crazy Joe got indicted.

- What was the indictment, do you have any idea what the indictment is?

- [Rus] Well, it was something about a federal charge

where the FBI was looking at him for...

it was like murder for hire.

- Oh, my gosh. It was a murder hire for who?

There's numerous people he's threatened.

- [Rus] Well, in Florida. - Oh, Florida.

- [Rus] Maybe he got friends in Florida,

because they said it was out of Florida.

- Ohh. - And you know...

- That could only be one person down there or two.

- [Rus] Yeah, or two. - Wow.

- [Rus] So, they're not naming the person.

In the indictment, it said Jane Doe.

- The US Attorney's office is leading the investigation.

Joe Exotic is known for his connection

to the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park,

though today he was arrested in Florida,

the same state as his alleged indictment.

- [Man] Federal indictment conceals the identity

of the woman, referring to her only as Jane Doe.

The murder plot was apparently foiled

when federal agents moved in to arrest Joe after he...

- It's gotta be Carole Baskin

down at Big Cat Rescue, Tampa, Florida,

with her husband, Howard.

It's gotta be her, because Joe Exotic

has been out to get her over the years.

She's right on the front line.

She's also one of the architects

of the Big Cat Public Safety Act,

which is just getting ready to go to a subcommittee hearing

for the House of Representatives.

What a coincidence!

It's a situation where somebody is trying to shut her up.

- Carole Baskin better never ever see me face to face.

- Joe Exotic has said many times that he's gonna take out--

he actually on one of his TV shows,

he'd actually showed himself shooting an effigy of Carole.

He said, "What I'm gonna do to her, I'm gonna cap her ass."

Pow! [gun bangs]

- That is how sick and tired of this shit I am.

- I gotta call her, I gotta find out,

I gotta hear her voice, and find out from her how she's doing.

Is there anything we need to do?

'Cause Carole's the bravest person I know.

- [Carole] Big Cat Rescue.

- Hey, Carole, this is Tim Harrison.

I need to ask you a question.

My phone just exploded up here.

I've just found out about this indictment.

Are you Jane Doe? - [Carole] Yes.

- Wow.

- We got a call from the FBI saying

that my life was in imminent danger.

Joe had hired a guy to come to Florida and kill me.

And they were able to put an undercover FBI agent in place

for Joe to then hire so that they could keep track of him.

- Wow.

- [Woman] The US Attorney's Office alleges that Exotic

openly discussed his plot to kill,

eventually hiring a person to carry out the murder.

That person was an undercover FBI agent.

- [Carole] Yeah, I'm really glad that they've got him in jail,

but I tell you what, he's just the dumbest one of them.

There's a lot of really bad people out there

that are a whole lot more dangerous to those of us

who are working to protect these cats.

- I'll tell you what, Carole, is there anything you need from us?

- [Carole] I couldn't live with myself

if I allowed bullies like him

to stop us from protecting these big cats.

So just keep doing what you're doing.

[intense music]

♪♪

[people shouting]

[helicopter blades whirring]

♪♪

[fireworks banging]

[people cheering]

- We've come here up to Massillon High School.

This is where the infamous Obies are.

For the last 45 years or so, they bring a tiger cub here

for them to use as their mascot.

- We're going to talk about Olive in just a minute, but Dave...

- [Tim] For the last three weeks on a couple different TV shows...

- Aww! - All right.

- ...they've been using a tiger by the name of Olive.

- Here with his friend Olive,

Animal Planet's big cat expert, Dave Salmoni.

- We're gonna try to see if they're gonna bring

a tiger cub out here.

And we're gonna see if it's Olive.

We personally came up here,

'cause I wanna find out.

♪♪

[cheering and applause]

[indistinct chatter on PA]

Here she comes, guys.

[audience cheering]

[air horn blowing]

[audience gasping]

Absolutely barbaric.

The same tiger cub

that was used on all those shows by animal experts,

bang, here it is, Olive's here.

And who's with it?

Grant Kemmerer.

It's just disgusting.

It just makes me want to just push through those people,

get that tiger cub, and just rescue it.

And take it to a sanctuary where it needs to be taken to.

And, you know, we can't do that 'cause it's not illegal.

It's not illegal.

You know, we're in a hostile environment already.

We've got some of their supporters over here

listening to what I'm saying.

Everybody's texting, you can see them watching us.

People are giving me the evil eye, staring me down.

The word's out.

You know, it's no different than going to

the dangerous wild exotic animal auctions.

They don't want you filming anything

because they don't want anybody to know what's going on.

It's like this-- this secret.

It's the same, same feeling here,

what happened to us at the auction.

And getting the evil eye as we're speaking right now.

They're making the phone calls.

[tense music]

- Who you with, bud?

Hey, this gentleman needs to move on.

- Sir, please move along.

- [Tim] We've got some of their supporters

over here right now, some of the boosters,

listening to what I'm saying.

- Move on, sir, that's what I'm asking you to do.

- You know, trying to kick us out, throw us out.

It's not gonna happen. It's not gonna happen.

He actually understands that we're there.

We're just a few steps behind him right now.

He's feeling that breath on the back of his neck.

The footsteps are coming, times are changing,

and he knows it.

- Go! Now!

You, go!

- [Tim] After all these years, and all the Obies they've had,

nobody can tell us what happens to them

after they're done with them.

- [Man] You have to go.

- [Tim] They just vanish.

- [Man] Why are you filming?

- And now little Olive is Obie 47.

We need to try to rescue Olive,

and get her out of that cycle.

Thing is, is I can't do it.

'Cause we've already exposed ourselves.

I'm gonna need an inside man.

I'm gonna need somebody that's in that world

to be able to reach in and get Olive,

and rescue her from that. And that's what I need.

And I think...

I think I might have the person that can do that.

[leaves crunching]

- [Cy] Good morning, Grant, my name is Cy.

I have Union Ridge Wildlife Center

incorporated here in Southeastern Ohio.

Here, Liz.

My tigers enjoy an incredible open facility,

16 feet high with 4-foot cantilever

with climbing platforms that step to 12-foot high.

[keyboard clacking]

I'm looking to replace a young tiger

we had to euthanise earlier last year

after suffering from a brain tumour.

Ultimately I'm looking for a young female

between six months and a year of age,

and I would be happy

to share any photos of my facilities, et cetera.

Many thanks in advance, Cy.

[keyboard clacking]

It's become quite frustrating

because some of the conversations we've had,

Grant keeps-- keeps moving forward with other topics

whenever I bring up any thought

of placing one of his cats.

We've talked about pelicans, beavers,

otters, lions...

...squirrel monkeys.

Hasn't ever replied about any, uh, tiger.

Did go as far as saying

I'd give my left arm for the last year's Obie.

Nothing.

No mention of the tigers.

So we're just gonna have to go to Grant's house

and see what he has.

[tense music]

♪♪

Okay, so I just sent Grant a text, that says,

"Hi, Grant, I had told you about an Arctic great horned owl.

Think you might like to use him in your programs."

He got back right away, "Wow, very nice, congrats.

I'll take one."

[phone line trilling]

- [Tim] Hey, how you doing? - Good.

So I just got done with my afternoon with Grant

over at his house.

- [Tim] Did you find anything about Olive?

- No.

- [Tim] Did you have free range on the property?

- No, Olive is not there,

and there weren't any-- there weren't any young tigers.

- Wow, Olive should be there, should be with him,

because he was the last one seen with her.

- No, it's... it's not.

- [Tim] That's what I was worried about.

If we didn't get that cat and intercept her,

it's gonna be dead.

So we have no idea where she's at.

- Correct.

- [Tim] That means we've gotta problem.

Did he have 15 or 16 big cats around there?

Because he told me he had 15 or 16 big cats

that stay there, they're at his location.

- There's only three tigers and one lion.

- [Tim] Wow.

So he's moved a lot of animals out of there.

- Correct.

- [Tim] He told me a lie then.

Because he said straightforward,

"They come here, and they stay here.

"They don't go anywhere else.

That's the way it works."

- No.

- They're nocturnal. They're a solitary cat...

- They're found in...

- So how much are they just like a house cat?

[lion cub growls] [audience laughs]

- [Jack] Here you go. Thank you very much.

- [Letterman] Thank you very much.

- His story is, to me, conflicted.

He told me too many stories, and he didn't even realise it.

I'm just starting to, you know, match the things up.

[camera clicks]

- [Tim] You get a photo? - I didn't, but my kid did.

My kid got photos of all-- of all three cats.

- [Tim] Excellent.

- But he had to be conspicuous about that,

because that was the only part of the property

that he had us turn away from. - [Tim] Wow.

Now there's something really suspicious going on there.

[lighter clicks]

- What if he had tiger cubs there today,

and that's why we couldn't walk over there?

He made a few oops this afternoon with his stories.

He didn't keep his stories straight.

Reflecting upon the visit,

when you look at everything, the cages,

the types of animals that are there...

a lot of things don't really add up.

[lion growling]

[people laughing, chatting]

- Something of interest here.

Something that just came about

within the last couple of weeks.

Grant Kemmerer and Wild World of Animals

have been cited for five different violations

in, uh-- in the State of New York.

He's allowed several people at private parties

at a residence to come into contact with big cats,

which is a clear violation of the law of New York.

- This is Wyatt,

this is a cat that's been used as an ambassador animal.

And here it is at a private party in New York.

- There you go. - Wow!

- Get interactive. - You know what this is for real?

This is such an honour and a privilege.

- Of course it is. - To just be around this majestic animal.

- "Caused or allowed direct contact

with a juvenile tiger."

- [Tim] Let's go the next here. Ah, look at this at this family portrait.

Oh, my gosh.

- "Caused or allowed direct contact with a lion."

- [Tim] Oh, my gosh. - Wow.

- And another juvenile tiger.

- [Man on video] What's up?

- In contact with people during a party at a private home.

What's that got to do with conservation?

- [Grant shouting] - What's he doing?

Shoving him around, grabbing him, dragging him.

What are they doing now? They're teasing him.

Oh, they're hitting him. Look at him, whack!

- Look at how, like, he's swatting his face.

[tiger groans] - Oh, my gosh.

- [Man on video] It's okay.

- These are the same cats that he was on TV with

saying these aren't pets.

- [Grant] That's why they're just not a pet.

It's never gonna be a pet.

- And he takes them out the very next weekend or so,

whenever this happened, takes them in a basket,

like you would take puppies or kittens,

to a birthday party.

[keyboard clacking]

- And look at all this too. "New pet?"

Look, "I want one." - [Tim] "I want one."

"Hanging with the baby tiger and the family."

This is the two faces of conservation right here.

Wyatt's on TV being used as an ambassador animal,

"Oh, you've gotta respect these animals."

- [Jarod] This is Wyatt right here, he's a Bengal tiger.

- And then this right here. [tiger growls]

- [Woman on video] No! - [Man on video] It's okay.

[sinister music]

♪♪

- If you take the tiger that Jack had

on "Good Morning America,"

and you line it up next to the tiger who was in a backyard,

put those side by side,

look at the stripes, they match up perfectly.

That's a 100% match.

This is Gus, this is the tiger we've been looking for.

- [Jack] This is a Siberian tiger. And all these tigers,

the American Zoological and Aquarium Association,

they're in the SSP program. Now these animals...

- The alleged SSP tiger that Suzi Rapp

of the AZA's Animal Welfare Committee

has on the end of a leash on a national TV show,

for a small backyard party in New York.

- Wow. - [Tim] That is enough right there

to blow the lid off of all this.

- [Carney Anne] Tim, it's Carney Anne,

you're not even gonna believe this.

I just got those records from New York

related to this illegal exhibitions and public contact.

So Mr. Kemmerer's attorney has picked three people

to solicit letters of reference.

And the letter I've got right here on top is

from Suzi Rapp, Vice President of Animal Programs

at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium.

- Oh, my God!

- [Carney Anne] "We found Kemmerer to be highly competent,

"very knowledgeable and experienced.

"And for this reason we consistently used them

and their animals for programs."

- Wow!

- [Carney Anne] And according to Suzi Rapp, she,

and I quote, "Would consider Wild World of Animals

to be at top-notch institution."

So that's the Columbus Zoo... - Wow!

- ...coming to the defense of their boy

in a letter he included to the State of New York

begging them not to revoke his license.

[lion growling]

- I've been saying for years that the Columbus Zoo,

Jack Hanna, they have to have that private breeding.

If the Big Cat Public Safety Act was passed,

straight from their words from their mouth,

"We can no longer do our business."

That's why they need these backyard breeders.

The genie is out of the bottle,

and there's no way they could put it back in.

- Well, there's nothing more rewarding than

working or volunteering in the animal offer world,

but it doesn't come without risk.

I've been personally threatened physically with my life.

I've been threatened with litigation.

I've been just slandered online, via social media and other ways.

At one point we were directed by our attorneys

to check underneath our car every day before we started it,

for fear of our life that we were,

you know, in risk of physical harm.

That's their only means of stopping you

from exposing them.

And they'll stop at nothing.

- [Woman] A dramatic day begins

as big cat owner, Joe Maldonado-Passage,

better known as Joe Exotic,

will face Carole Baskin in federal court.

According to the FBI, the murder plot was foiled

when undercover agents intervened.

Joe also faces 17 federal counts of animal abuse.

- [Man] Oklahoma is one of several states

that allows private ownership and unregulated breeding

of big cats.

States like Nevada, North Carolina, Wisconsin...

- [Woman] The big cat battle rages on today

in the United States on the same day

that Joe Exotic's criminal trial

reaches a fever pitch in Oklahoma.

Big cat advocates here in Washington DC

will testify before Congress

in an effort to put an end to private ownership.

- The Big Cat Public Safety Act was first introduced last month.

This is the first time though it's been discussed

in a hearing on Capitol Hill.

First responders tell me they hope

this isn't the last time.

Do we know where all the tigers are in the United States,

or the lions, or any of these big cats?

- We don't know, we can't follow it.

There's so many backyard breeders,

and that's what this law's about,

stopping the backyard breeders, making it so the law enforcement

can do something about it, can step in and stop this.

- The Big Cat Public Safety Act

would end the ownership of big cats

as exotic pets, and prohibit exhibitors

from allowing the public to have contact with them,

keeping these majestic animals and the public safe.

Well, we all love these iconic species.

It's important to remember that they're wild animals,

and they shouldn't be kept as pets,

or treated like petting zoo animals.

- These dangerous animals are often kept in small spaces

that are entirely inconsistent with their needs.

And rescue operations have demonstrated

the extreme abuse enabled by the pet big cat trade.

- With this Big Cat Public Safety Act,

I never thought I'd ever see it

where it's actually going to be voted on,

and it could be through the House.

If it gets through the House, it's amazing.

- Congressmen, this committee in particular

must continue to work towards

protecting wildlife at home and abroad,

if we hope to preserve biodiversity

for future generations.

In particular, I'd like to thank...

- This really I thought would never happen in my lifetime.

And with this happening has a lot to do

with all the organizations out there,

has to do with all the people that just love big cats,

and the people that actually paid attention.

And right now we have an opportunity

to stop all this madness.

And it is...

it's the greatest feeling in the world.

- Other animal welfare organizations,

because lions and tigers do not belong

in urban apartments, or in cages,

and suburban backyards.

- As the member designated of Nevada,

I inform the House that Miss Titus will vote yes

on HR1380.

- Miss Kaptur of Ohio who will vote aye on HR1380.

- Mr. Patrick will vote yes on HR1380.

- I inform the house that Ms. Pingree will vote yes

on HR1380.

- I have never met an animal welfare advocate,

myself included, that has stopped.

- 965, I inform the House that Mr. Price will vote yes.

He will vote yes on HR1380.

- And I consider it a privilege

to be able to take on the challenge and not turn back.

- Best decision that we've ever made.

And something I couldn't be more proud of,

and I'll continue to do it till the day I die.

[dramatic music]

- Breaking news just in to NBC4,

Jack Hanna is announcing his retirement

from the Columbus Zoo.

This will be effective at the end of the year.

- Are you shocked by this at all, Colleen?

- I was because he's had that status for so long,

and they say it's just time.

- Who else is going to do the animal segments now?

- Now we're getting to the point,

that the new generation coming along right now,

and the next generation after that,

I have high hopes, high hopes that this is gonna stop.

And to me, that makes me feel like,

you know, everything we did,

it's all been worth it to watch this new generation.

- [Robert Irwin] Hey, guys, so these are leopard cubs.

- [Jimmy] These are leopards?

- So these are little baby leopards.

Aren't they amazing? [audience laughs]

They're so cute, aren't they?

[indistinct chatter on TV]

There you go.

[sinister music]

♪♪

[dramatic music]

♪♪

- [Woman] Today, from Santa Barbara, California,

a bombshell new film launches its world premier

to a sold-out crowd of moviegoers and reporters.

The film sheds light on a previously unknown

dark corner of the big cat...

- [George] The family of the director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo

has revealed that he's been diagnosed with dementia,

and will no longer take part in public life.

- [Woman] Jack Hanna is said to be taking his final public bow,

after four decades of...

- [Woman] The Columbus Zoo releases a statement today

expressing that now, under the new leadership

of Jerry Borin, they are publicly supporting

the Big Cat Public Safety Act.

Congress is expected to cast a final vote

on the federal bill later this year.

The statement comes directly on the heels

of Jack Hanna's announcement...

- [Woman] Joe is serving 22 years inside

the Federal Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas,

for wildlife violations and a plot to kill Carole Baskin.

- [Man] And now, in his first prison interview,

Joe says he's counting on Carole to get him out.

- [Joe] To get a pardon,

I would support the Big Cat Safety Act.

♪♪