All language subtitles for Trafficked.with.Mariana.van.Zeller.S01E07.Tigers.1080p.WEB.h264-CAFFEiNE

♪ ♪

REPORTER (over TV): Stars
like Jared Leto dressed
up like Joe Exotic.

COLBERT (over TV): There's
really only one big story.

WOMAN (over TV): The
number one show in the U. S.

ROBERTS (over TV):
You cannot turn away.

MARIANA: Joe Exotic,
Carole Baskin, Doc Antle.

SIMPSON: White people, what's
with you and wild animals?

MARIANA: When Tiger King
became a phenomenon.

CAROLE: Hey, all you
cool cats and kittens.

DEGENERES: Hey, all you cool
cats and kittens, it's me Ellen.

MARIANA: It made each
of them household names.

MAN: Joe Exotic.

(speaking in native language).

WOMAN: Netflix Tiger King.

JOE: And I saw tiger.

REPORTER: Cardi B wants
to free the Tiger King.

JOURNALIST: He's asking
you for a pardon, saying
he was unfairly convicted.

TRUMP: I'll take a look.

MARIANA: But while the series
focuses on the bizarre
private lives at the center

of America's big cat industry,

very little attention is given
to the status of tigers today.

In America, tiger cubs are
bred so guests can snap
pictures at roadside zoos.

In Asia, they're poached,
farmed, butchered,
and turned into products.

At a time when one of
the most iconic predators
faces extinction,

we set out to tell the
real story of the tiger.

Who are the breeders?

DOC: I am the
only one qualified.

No one else in the world
has ever done what we do.

MARIANA: Who are
the traffickers?

ANNA: They do not
like journalists.

They're probably gonna
torture you if they find
out you're a journalist.

MARIANA: And what can
we do to save the tiger?

♪ ♪

(phone ringing)

VOICE (over phone):
Prepaid call from.

JOE: Joe Exotic.

VOICE (over phone): An inmate
at the Grady County Jail.

This call is also subject
to being recorded or monitored.

JOE (over phone): Hello?

MARIANA: Hi. How are you doing?
Mariana here.

JOE (over phone): Hi.

MARIANA: Thank you
so much for calling me.

It all started with
an online reality show.

JOE (over TV): I'm Joe Exotic,
the gay, gun‐carrying
redneck with a mullet.

MARIANA: Before Netflix's
hit series Tiger King made
Joe Exotic famous worldwide.

MAN: He was like a mythical
character living out in the
middle of (bleep) Oklahoma.

MARIANA: But lost in the hype
surrounding the series...

MARIANA: Was a serious
discussion about private
tiger ownership in America.

JOE (over phone): I've been
in the tiger industry for
a little over 20 years now.

Probably the largest
breeder and handler of, of
tigers in the United States.

MARIANA: So give me just a sense
of the tiger sort of community,
cub petting, zoos, and all that.

You know, I, I'm stuck trying
to figure out why the hell
I'm in jail for, first of all.

MARIANA: To be clear,
Joe Exotic is behind bars

because he was convicted
of the attempted murder for hire

of Carole Baskin, as
well as 17 wildlife crimes.

CARNEY ANNE: In the
words of the judge at
Joe Exotic's sentencing,

Joe is a master manipulator
who has engaged in quote,

"systematic trafficking of
tigers and other big cats."

MARIANA: Yet critics
of Tiger King say
the series celebrated Joe,

while largely overlooking
his treatment of animals.

CARNEY ANNE: Joe
is not a folk hero.

He is somebody who, for
decades, profited off of the

exploitation
and abuse of animals.

And Joe is finally
where he belongs.

MARIANA: So why would
you want to breed a tiger?

Well, in the U. S., roadside
zoos can bring in big money by

offering cub petting
experiences to tourists.

JOHN: You know, they raise
tiger cubs so that people can
pay money and take selfies.

So they have to have this
constant supply of these
little tiny tiger cubs

between one and four months.

WOMAN: Oh, look,
look, look, look.

JOHN: So there's just
this huge breeding operation.

But the key thing here is
that after the cubs are
about four months old,

they're too dangerous to,
for the public to handle.

They need to be
handed off somewhere.

And often I don't
think we really know
what happens to them.

MARIANA: To understand
the scope of the issue,

National Geographic Magazine
reviewed Joe Exotic's records

from 2010 to 2018 and
learned that his zoo traded
nearly 200 tigers with

dozens of other private
owners across America.

MARIANA: Breeders like Joe
are one of the reasons that
there are now an estimated

5,000 to 10,000
tigers in the United States.

With less than 4,000
tigers left in the wild,

there are now more tigers
living in captivity in the U. S.

than there are wild tigers
living in the rest of the world.

JOE (over phone): If something'
endangered, hell, we need to
start breeding it, do we not?

Is that not what the
purpose of being endangered
is is we need more of?

MARIANA: But it's
not that simple.

And my journey to
understand why, takes me to
the other side of the world.

Tigers face a grave threat
in the wild as they make up part

of the $20 billion‐a‐year
illegal wildlife trade.

♪ ♪

(singing in native language)

♪ ♪

MARIANA: To see just what
the tiger is up against,

I'm headed to the frontlines
of that global black market.

STEVE: One dead tiger
will usually fetch between
$30,000 and $50,000.

MARIANA: Steve Galster
is the founder of
Freeland Foundation,

an NGO working to end wildlife
trafficking all over the world.

STEVE: They're taking pictures
of what they're gonna sell.

There is the head, and
then they've got the ribs.

MARIANA: Steve is
showing me tiger parts
seized by authorities.

The parts were likely destined
for tiger wine or tiger pills.

Due to age‐old cultural
traditions, buyers believe,
without any scientific evidence,

that tiger products cure
everything from rheumatism
to male impotence.

So the bone wine,
all of that, this
is all black market?

STEVE: Yeah. All
tiger part trade is illegal.

MARIANA: To brew tiger wine,
bones of a recently slaughtered

tiger are steeped in a vat of
rice wine for up to eight years.

Demand for the
product has increased,

as rising incomes
in the region have allowed

more people to
afford luxury goods.

There may now be as
many as 8,000 tigers
in Asian farms alone.

STEVE: This is structured
very much like drug trafficking.

You're moving
illegal commodities.

The profit margins are high.

The organization is very slick.

In fact, some of these
folks made their money
in drug trafficking

and moved over into
wildlife trafficking.

MARIANA: Tigers illegally
sold in this part of the
world are often trafficked

through one place,
the Golden Triangle.

STEVE: The power of the people
who own these tigers and
these tiger farms is enormous.

MARIANA: The Golden Triangle
is a border region between
Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar.

ANNA: You know,
I've been working on tiger
investigation for a long time.

Golden Triangle, it's
known as being a lawless
playground for criminals.

MARIANA: Anna,
not her real name, is a
freelance journalist who has

investigated the
black markets of this
region for years.

For her safety, we're
disguising her identity.

Why here?

Of all the places, why
do you think that all this

wildlife trafficking is
happening through here?

ANNA: Most wild tigers
go to China or Vietnam.

MARIANA: Right. Right.

ANNA: So Laos is like
the perfect transit place.

MARIANA: Just across the
Mekong River from Thailand
lies the Kings Roman Casino.

Run by Zhao Wei,
a Chinese businessman.

The casino advertises
itself as the place for
legal gambling in the region,

but the U. S. Treasury Department
has said that Zhao Wei is
involved in drug smuggling,

child prostitution,
and wildlife trafficking.

ANNA: Drugs, weapons,
and wildlife trafficking.

Everything bad, you name it.

MARIANA: So it's sort of
like a little criminal
enclave inside Laos?

So, in that respect, it's
super dangerous because they're
trying to protect their income.

ANNA: Yeah.

MARIANA: Zhao Wei has denied
the charges against him.

In the past, his casino
openly advertised tiger bone
wine in promotional brochures.

And recent reports say
they are still breeding tigers.

Anna visited the casino grounds
herself five days ago and
witnessed a zoo with dozens

of tigers, which
she believes could be
destined for tiger wine.

ANNA: They actually
locate it before the casino.

MARIANA: Just tigers in cages?
ANNA: Yeah.

MARIANA: Tomorrow
I'll be visiting the
Kings Roman Casino myself.

♪ ♪

(speaking in native language).

MARIANA: It's
the front and back.

I normally do
everything I can to avoid
looking like a tourist.

Definitely having a bag
that says National Geographic,

it's the
first thing to ditch.

But Anna tells me Zhao Wei's
informants are everywhere
in the Golden Triangle.

Perfect, with
the little elephants.

So we have to blend in.

So this is Jeff, our director,
who's fully embracing the
blending in like a tourist.

JEFFREY: That's right. Yeah.

MARIANA: That hat
looks great on you.

JEFFREY: Thank you. Yeah.

Tommy gave it to me,
our driver, and said,

"You need to look
like tourists."

Golden Triangle.

MARIANA: Yay. Cheese.
Golden Triangle.

We have a camera.
Looks like a tourist camera.

We also have a little
selfie stick, which I don't
actually know how to operate.

There's gonna be a
lot of selfies today.

Lot of smiling.

One thing really important
actually is to smile a lot,

make sure we really
look like tourists.

We're having a great time.

Everybody has
their passports?

JEFFREY: There's our boat.

MARIANA: Okay. Here.

Posing as tourists, my
team and I are leaving the
relative safety of Thailand

and crossing over into Laos.

This is it, the casino.

Okay. Tourist mode.
Let's do this.

It's the Blue Shield Casino,
owned by the Kings Roman group.

Here in the Golden Triangle,
I'm trying to blend in.

I don't want to catch
the attention of alleged
criminal boss, Zhao Wei.

So that's the casino.

And behind that
big golden building,

that's the hotel,
the massive hotel,

they'll build, they're
building right behind it.

I'm well aware that
journalists looking into the

tiger trade are not welcome.

We should continue going
'cause the security guards at

the casino were
looking at us of course.

Let's walk.
Let's walk.

Five years ago,
conservationists reported

finding tiger wine,
tiger meat,

and other endangered animal
parts openly for sale at the

casino's Chinatown‐themed
shopping center.

There are people looking
at us so just pretending.

(speaking native language).

MARIANA: After
international outrage,

the Laotian government made a
show of raiding some of the

shops and burning
tiger skins on TV.

But reports afterward said tiger
products were still for sale.

Ooh, look at all the
flies on this meat.

Just not openly advertised.

Tasty.

MARIANA: When I
asked for tiger meat,
I'm laughed at.

No?

I try various shops.

Nobody know?

MAN: Yeah.
Nobody know.

MARIANA: But if any of them have
black market tiger products,

they're not about
to sell them to a Westerner.

Our guide was saying that he
doesn't feel like it's very

safe for us to
be here anymore.

So we should go, guys.

Let's go.

I suspected this might happen,
which is why I'm not the only

one doing an investigation
at the casino today.

I'm gonna need your help.

MARIANA: Anna has assembled
her own undercover team to
try to find out

just how prevalent the black
market for tiger really is.

MARIANA: Like me, Anna
is rebuffed at first.

ANNA: We walked
down this alley, right?

Just like a bunch of
old‐style Chinese restaurants.

When you do
something like this,

they're not gonna come offer
it to you right away, right?

MARIANA: As Anna and her team
stake out the restaurants,

I head to look for
the tigers themselves.

So looking for the cages which
are somewhere over there.

Anna has given me the
GPS coordinates of the
casino's tiger zoo.

We passed it already
basically, it says?

JEFFREY: No. It says we're
coming up on it now.

ANNA (over phone): Hi, Mariana.

MARIANA: How are you, Anna?
We're here.

ANNA (over phone):
What do you see?

MARIANA: Nothing.
There's nothing here.

I mean, it's all
brand‐new construction site.

There is like a hole.
It was all bulldozed.

All turned down. (bleep).

So you were just
here five days ago?

And it was all here?

They were all here,
tigers in the cages?

ANNA (over phone):
It was all here.

MARIANA: It's
not here anymore.

It's really frustrating.
I strike out again.

But for Anna,
things are looking up.

ANNA: It took us
one and a half hour.

MARIANA: Just
sitting and drinking?

ANNA: Yeah. And talking,
and eat some more,

and drink some more until we
get really loud, really drunk.

(speaking native language).

And the lady showed up.

(speaking native language).

ANNA: And she, you know,
take out this thing.

And I'm like,
"Whoa. Whoa. What?"

Such an amazing presentation.

MARIANA: It's incredible.
So it's an actual glass.

You see an actual glass.

ANNA: Yeah. Yeah.
I have it here too.

You wanna take.

MARIANA: Yes.
I'd love to see it.

Anna can't confirm that
this is actually tiger wine,

but in a dark twist, the box
is labeled tiger king wine.

That it is insane.

ANNA: A couple years ago, almost
at every Chinese restaurant

sell tiger bone wine out
in the open and tiger meat.

But because the US
has sanctioned them,

they really try hard
to change the image.

So everything has
gone underground.

MARIANA: Investigators in the
Golden Triangle say that tiger

products here are increasingly
sold under the counter.

Much of the trade has
moved to social media,

like the Chinese app, WeChat.

And in Laos and
other Asian countries,

criminal groups have been
known to utilize zoos as

fronts for
commercial breeding.

ANNA: They open a zoo,
you know, as front.

And then they breed and,
to produce more tiger for

something like this.

MARIANA: So what happened to
all of the tigers that Anna

saw in the casino zoo?

(speaking native language).

TOMMY: About three kilometer.

About.

MARIANA: Three kilometers?
TOMMY: Yes.

MARIANA: Are they in cages?
The tigers in cages?

TOMMY: Yeah. Yeah.

MARIANA: Just when I'm about
to get on the boat back to

Thailand, we
catch a lucky break.

Tommy here has been
inquiring for us all around.

And as we're about to leave,
Tommy made some contacts with

this guy behind us
who drives a tuk‐tuk,

and he knows where
the tigers are located.

The driver says the casino's
tigers were moved just a few

days ago to a new zoo
high on the mountain.

The driver here says
he knows where these,

the tigers have been moved to.

We hope that he
actually does know.

And also that he's not
taking us to a police station,

or the casino owners, or...

(speaking native language).

MARIANA: Is this,
is this, is it here?

(speaking native language).

MARIANA: I think he's turning
off into this dirt road.

I think we're getting close,
so we don't wanna be
seen going in.

The compound appears
to be surrounded by a
tall perimeter wall.

Okay. So we're at the location.

We're going around the fences
to try to see if we can find

an opening in.

As we walk up, we can see
black bears in the distance.

Though we can't be sure of
the fate of these bears,

in the past, bear paw soup
has been offered on menus
at Kings Roman Casino.

We've seen bears.
We've seen deer.

MAN (over phone): Okay.

MARIANA: We're still trying
to find the tiger cages.

And then we hear the roars.

(roaring).

Okay.

He's saying we can
see them from here.

Far away but unmistakable.

(roaring).

You see them?

MARIANA: Chinese what? Police?
TOMMY: Police.

MARIANA: Okay, guys.
Let's walk. Let's walk.

TOMMY: Walk, walk, walk.

MARIANA: Oh, stop. Sorry.

Can you tell him? Just me.

I just wanna get a selfie,
a selfie with a tiger.

(speaking native language).

MARIANA: Just me.

(speaking native language).

MARIANA: I won't,
I will stay away.

Far away.

TOMMY: She cannot.
MARIANA: Just like this.

TOMMY: No. She, he,
he says you cannot.

MARIANA: Ah. Okay.
Then I will go.

The guards are adamant
that we can't get in
to see the tigers.

(speaking native language).

MARIANA: It's incredibly
frustrating to be so close.

But what they do next is
better than the alternative,

they let us go.

Can I smell it?

ANNA: Of course.

MARIANA: Oh.
ANNA: (bleep).

Oh, that's (bleep).

MARIANA: So it's a
little like vinegary and
strong liquor, basically.

ANNA: I can smell
it from here. Ugh.

MARIANA: Anna has her
suspicions on why they didn't

want us filming the tigers.

ANNA: There's a possibility
that those tigers you were

looking for could, might as
well end up in this bottle.

The killing hasn't stopped.

Wild tigers has come to a
point of almost extinct.

TIM: When you drive along,
quite often there's a good

chance of seeing some animals.

Things like deer and gaur,
wild boar, maybe jackals.

MARIANA: Tigers?
TIM: Yup.

MARIANA: Raising tigers is
expensive and time consuming,

so criminal networks often
rely on another way to satisfy

the demand for tiger parts,
poaching them from the wild.

Before leaving Southeast Asia,
I spend two days with an elite

unit of Thai Forest Rangers on
the hunt for tiger poachers.

Didn't sleep very well.

I woke up around 2:00 AM, and
I was absolutely sure there

was a tiger right next to me.

Of course, none of this
was actually happening.

RANGER: Coffee.
MAN: Okay.

RANGER: Coffee.
MARIANA: Coffee.

MAN: Coffee.
RANGER: Coffee.

MARIANA: Mmm.
Very good coffee.

RANGER: Uh‐hmm.

MARIANA: So what are
you looking for here, Gao?

Footsteps or any sort
of evidence that there
were poachers here?

TIM: So this is just the
wildlife trail that we've

been using to put the camera on.

MARIANA: Oh,
this is the camera.

Why is it protected?

TIM: Well, there's a
couple of reasons,

but the main reason
is from the elephants.

You see how all,
this is all bent?

MARIANA: Yeah.

Supporting the rangers'
work is Tim Redford,

an anti‐trafficking expert
from the Freeland Foundation.

Who's poaching these tigers?

TIM: Fairly poorly
paid people, you know?

And they're
struggling to make a living.

And these guys are being
exploited by middlemen and

kingpins at the top who are
making an awful lot of money.

MARIANA: How do you think the
tiger farms around this region

affect what's
happening here in the park?

TIM: Poachers
are seeing tiger.

Farmers are making money.

I want some of that as well.

It's very easy money to go
into the forest and shoot a

tiger or snare a tiger, and
so the demand is creating more

poaching in the forest.

MARIANA: Oh.

Still worse, wild tiger
products are considered more

potent, so buyers will pay
more for a poached tiger.

Even as tigers'
numbers decline in the wild,

they're rising in captivity in
both Asia and the United States.

Conservationists say that
undermines our ability to push

for swifter actions in Asia.

CARNEY ANNE: When we want to
tell countries like China that

they need to shut
down tiger farms,

we have very little
credibility when we can't even

figure out how many
big cats we have here.

JOHN: You know, we're talking to
China and other Asian countries

(roaring).

to try to get them
to stop this captive breeding

and tiger farming for
the traditional medicine,

but their answer to us is,

"Well, you've got 10,000
tigers in captivity in
the United States.

You're breeding
them for petting zoos.

How is that more acceptable
than breeding them for

medicinal purposes?"

MARIANA: So why has
the U. S. allowed its
captive tiger population

to grow to such extremes?

That's what I want
to find out next,

which is why I'm returning to
the land of the Tiger King.

WOMAN: Look.
Look, a tiger. Look.

♪ ♪

MARIANA: So it looks like
it's a super residential
neighborhood over here.

JOE (over phone): As far as
breeders, I, I was definitely
the biggest breeder.

MARIANA: Joe Exotic won't be
eligible for parole until 2034,

but other private tiger owners
are breeding cubs in his place.

JOE (over phone): My facility
is still doing it.

So Jeff Lowe is, is one
of the biggest breeders.

Doc Antle is a big breeder.

MARIANA: If you
watched Tiger King,

these names
should be familiar,

especially Doc Antle,
who Joe Exotic has
described as a mentor.

I think this is it,
this is the entrance.

There are so many
cars here already.

GUIDE: How many guys
have been here before?
Fresh meat, everyone?

WOMAN: Oh, my God.

MARIANA: Since
opening the park in 1983,

Bhagavan "Doc" Antle has
raised hundreds of creatures,

big and small.

DOC: This is my
little girl, Bubbles.

MARIANA: A bewildering
menagerie of exotic animals,

including hybrids that
don't exist in nature.

♪ ♪

We should note,
National Geographic
previously worked with Antle,

though they haven't
done so for years.

DOC: Step right up.
You can pet that big face.

Look at those
incredible eyelashes.

MARIANA: Oh, wow.

DOC: See how she
feels right there.

Look right there
in the camera.

MARIANA: Doc Antle is
best known for his tigers.

If these majestic animals one
day disappear from the wild,

this could be their future.

DOC: A kiss.
Little kiss.

Myrtle Beach Safari is an
interactive wildlife facility

where people can come and
visit and get an up‐close,

uncaged experience that allows
them to make a connection with

wildlife that isn't
available anywhere else.

WOMAN: Look at the camera.
MAN: Look at the camera.

WOMAN: Oh, now.

WOMAN: Oh, look,
look, look, look, look.

MARIANA: Operations like Doc
Antle's can generate revenues

of more than
$1 million a year.

WOMAN: I love you.
I love you.

DOC: People pay a premium
price to visit the facility.

That price goes back towards
operating the facility,

and then goes directly
into the wild to support

conservation programs.

MARIANA: Specifically, he
mentions their support for the

Soraya Forest Research Station
in Sumatra, Indonesia.

DOC: We solely have built ranger
stations deep in the jungles.

We pay the rangers salaries
every day to walk the jungles,

to pick up deadly snares,
to chase down poachers.

MARIANA: Cub petting is
legal in the United States

if the facility is
licensed by the USDA.

WOMAN: Oh, my gosh.

WOMAN: Oh.

MARIANA: But it is not
allowed by the Association
of Zoos and Aquariums,

which oversees highly
regarded zoos, aquariums,
and animal parks.

CARNEY ANNE: No reputable
facility allows any human
contact with big cats.

This is something that is
only done by roadside zoos...

WOMAN: Oh, my God.
So beautiful.

CARNEY ANNE: Magicians,
circuses, and the industries

that profit off of the
exploitation of big cats.

JOHN: I think that cub petting
is an appalling way to get

people to care about
tiger conservation,

because to do it, you have to
keep breeding all of these cubs.

CARNEY ANNE: These cats are
taken away from their mothers.

They're being
handled and passed around.

WOMAN: Oh, he's
not very happy.

CARNEY ANNE: All
just to make a buck.

(howling).

♪ ♪

♪ La la la la la
la la la la ♪

La la la la la
la la la la ♪

DOC: They are
ready for a snack.

MARIANA: A lot of animal
experts would say that it's...

DOC: They're not experts.
Okay. Go ahead.

MARIANA: A lot of people would
say that petting cubs is an

abuse to animals.

How is that okay?

DOC: By hand‐raising the cubs,
you create for those animals a

lifestyle where they're
very peaceful about the
world that they're in.

The cubs are out
there for 20 minutes,

three times a week.

So they have one hour
a week of interaction.

That's it, right?

Interaction with those cubs
from an early life creates for

the animal an ability to
have a bond with people.

His life is lifelong captive.

He will never be in the wild.

There's a deep confusion going
on that is being pushed by

fake experts.

I am the only one qualified in
this activity of raising cubs.

The people you're
speaking about are fanatics,
extremist fanatics.

You're speaking about someone
who's wishes to push an agenda

as hard as Sharia law
saying that Al Qaeda is an

expert on how to live.

Sharia law is correct,
and we should all fall in.

Kind of like.

MARIANA: I think it's a
huge stretch to compare animal
rights activists to Al Qaeda.

DOC: It's not.
Why do you think that?

You're fortifying the
arguments of the enemy.

You're helping Al Qaeda sound
like they maybe have merit.

CARNEY ANNE: I think that it
doesn't pass the smell test to

suggest that people who
are advocating for a more

humane world are, are Al‐Qaeda.

MARIANA: The bizarre story
behind tiger keeper, Joe Exotic,

and his feud with animal rights
activist, Carole Baskin.

GRACE: But I would like
to know what happened
to that husband?

MARIANA: Lost in the
Tiger King‐ fueled melodrama

surrounding the disappearance
of Carole's ex‐husband.

♪ Oh, here, kitty, kitty. ♪

MARIANA: Was an explanation of
why tiger sanctuaries like

Big Cat Rescue actually exist.

CAROLE: People
started calling and saying,

"Would you take my lion?
Would you take my tiger?"

And so what I thought was
going to be a very easy thing

to fix turned into a
much bigger project.

MARIANA: Tiger owners in the
U. S. have few places to turn

when their cute little cub grows
into a 450‐pound alpha predator,

especially when it costs
$10,000 a year to feed it.

So Doc Antle, when he was
referring to Big Cat Rescue,

he called this
place a scamtuary.

DOC: The sanctuary scamtuaries
in the United States,

I feel, are an enormous
drain to saving tigers.

MARIANA: What
would you say to that?

CAROLE: I think people like
him project their own failings

on those around them.

We saw that with Joe Exotic.

You know, he would constantly
accuse me of things that

turned out he was doing.

MARIANA: When I started
researching this story,

I was shocked to learn
it's easier in the U. S.

to buy a tiger than
to adopt a rescue dog.

That's because there's no
overarching federal law

regulating tiger ownership.

But the Baskins would
like to change that.

CAROLE: Our primary
mission is to put
ourselves out of business.

And the way we plan to do that
is by changing the laws and

changing people's minds so
that they don't want to see

these animals in cages.

MARIANA: In 2003, they helped
pass a bill that made it

illegal for private owners to
sell tigers across state lines.

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

and they shouldn't be
kept as pets or treated

like petting zoo animals.

MARIANA: And their latest
lobbying effort is the
Big Cat Public Safety Act.

CAROLE: The Big Cat Public
Safety Act would ban the

private possession of
big cats and it would
stop the cub handling.

MARIANA: Doc Antle,
on the other hand,

argues that new
regulations are unnecessary.

DOC: This is the animal
extremists' false narrative

that there are big cats being
kept in apartment buildings

and hidden in backyards.

This just does not exist.

MARIANA: In the past decade,
Antle's businesses have spent

over $1 million lobbying
on proposed regulations on

captive wildlife
and big cat issues,

including $390,000 to
lobby against the Big
Cat Public Safety Act.

CARNEY ANNE: Cubs can yield up
to $1 million for roadside zoo

during their lifetime.

This is big money.

And this is why all the
roadside zoos are so opposed

to the Big Cat
Public Safety Act,

'cause it would virtually put
a nail in the coffin for this

highly‐lucrative industry.

MARIANA: To shed more
light on big cats in America,

I'm about to meet with someone
who was once a part of
Doc Antle's inner circle.

And that's you?

BARBARA: Uh‐hmm.
MARIANA: Wow.

BARBARA: Uh‐hmm.

BARBARA: This was.

MARIANA: Oh, my God.
This is you?

BARBARA: Yeah.
My name when I
was there was Bala.

MARIANA: Oh, you changed
your name when you were there?

BARBARA: Uh‐hmm.

MARIANA: Did he make you
change your name or what...

BARBARA: He didn't make
me change, but if you were

in the inner circles,
you had changed your name.

MARIANA: Hmm.

Barbara Fischer worked for
Doc Antle for eight years

until leaving in 2007.

BARBARA: I was 19 years old,
and I was just looking to run

away with the circus,
if that makes any sense.

MARIANA: One of her primary
jobs was raising tiger cubs.

Knowing what you know now, do
you think that there should be

tiger cub petting happening in
places where humans interact

with wild animals like tigers?

BARBARA: No.
I'd say no.

Do we really need to
domesticate tigers?

'Cause that's
what's happening.

They're, they're,
they're breeding them to
domestication standards.

I mean, they're like dogs.

Bhagavan used to like say,
"We need 1,000 arks to float

tigers into the next
generation once their habitat

has been destroyed to try
to rebuild it or whatever."

MARIANA: Uh‐hmm.

BARBARA: But those tigers that
were bred for training are not

the same as wild tigers.

And he would say that himself.

MARIANA: Why is he breeding all
these different kind of tigers?

BARBARA: For profit, because
people like to see them.

MARIANA: One of the big things
that your critics say is that

what you're doing here is
breeding tigers for profit.

DOC: Breeding a tiger
for profit is an idea
of the uneducated.

Tigers can't be sold.

MARIANA: But you are
making money with it as well.

DOC: What do you
call make money?

You're, see, you're
going back into this thing.

MARIANA: I mean,
people coming here and,

and are paying $150
just to take photos.

DOC: Is there, is there, $500.
But is there money left over?

No.

So am I making money? No.

MARIANA: Antle tells me that
he contributes an undisclosed

amount to wildlife conservation
programs every year,

but he claims that's only one of
the benefits of his operation.

DOC: We're getting
this incredible,

diversified genetics, and
we're working towards the

healthiest, best tigers that
can exist in the modern world.

Those tigers have babies to
make that continue to happen.

MARIANA: I thought
you were going to say,

"Look. Yes, we're,
this is a business.

We're making money, and,
but I don't think there's

anything wrong with
breeding tigers,"

but instead you're
telling me that

the reason you're
doing it is for the...

DOC: Is to run the
genetic programs.

If you don't do something
like what we're working on,

there's no hope.

There must be a bank
of tigers that can go
towards the future.

MARIANA: Conservationists
I spoke with disagree with

Antle's argument.

They say Antle's hybrid
domesticated tigers could

never replace a wild tiger.

JOHN: A lot of these petting
zoos claim that they are

preventing the extinction of
tigers by maintaining these

captive populations, but those
captive tigers will never go

back into the wild,
so what's the point?

CARNEY ANNE: Breeders like
Joe Exotic and Doc Antle are

creating animals who
don't exist in the wild.

White tigers are not a
separate subspecies.

They're actually inbred,
yet exhibitors like Doc have

acknowledged that they like
to breed them because

they're more interesting.

They're crowd‐pleasers.

BARBARA: People think
they're seeing some
rare thing, you know?

A royal white Bengal tiger,
snow white tiger.

These are so rare,
there's only 10 in captivity.

I mean, we remember
saying stuff like that.

People definitely would rather
have contact with that tiger

than just a plain old tiger
that's just orange and black.

MARIANA: Antle argues that
wild tigers and captive tigers

are virtually the same thing.

DOC: The, the few large
tiger parks that exist are

completely
inundated with people.

So, there is no real wild
that tigers are living in.

All tigers are
essentially captive,

and it is probably
all we have left.

MARIANA: One of the big
questions that people have is

what happens when the
tigers are no longer cubs?

They can't be petted anymore.

DOC: They only go to
accredited facilities or to

facilities that we have a
direct relationship with.

MARIANA: Can you tell me
some of those facilities,

the names of those
facilities that you've
sent tigers to before?

DOC: You understand that
if I tell you their names,

the animal extremists will use
that as a mailing campaign to

attack that place.

MARIANA: Okay.

So one place that has
been reported about is a,

a facility in Thailand
called Samut Prakan.

DOC: Yes.

I took seven of my tigers.
I put them together.

And we flew to Thailand.

We hand‐delivered
them to the facility.

It's beautiful.

Great big open habitats,
far exceeding American
zoological standards.

MARIANA: In 2019,
National Geographic
Magazine wrote an article

that described animal abuse at
wildlife parks around the world,

including Samut Prakan.

And you concerned at all
that the, the tigers

that you are breeding
here are ending up at

facilities with terrible
conditions for animals?

DOC: Your colleague's lying.

I've been to the
facility a half a dozen times.

The facility is not
state‐of‐the‐art
American facility,

but far worse conditions
exist in Florida today.

You've got, you've got an
animal extremist right there

who probably holds a chicken
sandwich in one hand and makes

his decisions in the other.

That person is Al Qaeda
to the max that put that
article together.

MARIANA: I had a
hunch he'd say that,

which is why I want to see
Samut Prakan for myself.

♪ ♪

MARIANA: In 2005, Doc Antle
transferred seven tigers from

Myrtle Beach Safari in
South Carolina to Samut Prakan.

MAN: Yes.
MARIANA: There you go.

(applause).

MAN: Okay.

MARIANA: We walk around the
zoo pretending we're tourists

so we can get a true
sense of what it's like.

Samut Prakan does not appear
to be what Doc describes at all.

There's a little cub
right here in a cage.

Five,
six‐weeks‐old, more or less.

I have to smile 'cause the guy
is looking at me all the time,

but it's a tiny cage.

And he's just
walking back and forth.

Look at that.

Soon after I enter,
I'm greeted by a tiger,

chained to the ground so
that tourists can take photos.

I pose for a photo so that
we can film the tiger without

raising suspicion.

ZOOKEEPER: Camera!
One, two, three.

MARIANA: Okay.
ZOOKEEPER: Okay.

(snarling).

MARIANA: Oh.
Oh, my God.

That was really disturbing.

All so that you can have a
photo with a tiger, you know?

As I walk
further into the zoo,

I see tigers
pacing in small cages.

To my untrained eye,
the conditions at the
zoo look deplorable.

CARNEY ANNE: Tigers are
complex, apex predators.

And in the wild, they
have home ranges of up to

hundreds of square miles.

Any reputable sanctuaries
provide naturalistic habitats.

They would never
chain an animal.

They would never use negative
reinforcement or physical abuse.

They would never
allow public contact.

And they provide a refuge
to these animals for life.

MARIANA: One, two,
three, four, five, six.

I see six tigers in a
really small enclosure.

This is about the size
of a basketball court.

The sun is right on them,
and it's really hot.

It's 90 something degrees.

It's really, really sad.

We don't know exactly how
big this tiger enclosure is,

and Samut Prakan did not respond
to our request for comments.

DOC: It's beautiful great big
open habitats far exceeding

American zoological standards.

MARIANA: Doc Antle also did
not respond to follow‐up

questions after my
visit to Samut Prakan.

Back in America, he's
facing serious allegations.

On October 8, 2020, the State
of Virginia indicted Doc Antle

on 15 charges including
Wildlife Trafficking and
Animal Cruelty.

The felony charges alleged
that Antle trafficked lion

cubs between South
Carolina and Virginia.

DOC: I categorically deny
any animal cruelty ever.

I spend my entire life
promoting the welfare and

conservation of big
cats and other species.

MARIANA: His trial is pending.

As for the "Tiger King" himself,
his final thoughts surprised me.

JOE (over phone):
But my whole outlook on
animals being in captivity

since I've been in
jail has changed.

If I would have known
20 years ago what life
inside a cage is like,

I would
never have had a zoo.

It doesn't matter if
it's a tiger or a gerbil,

no animal belongs in a cage.

MARIANA: However, it will take
a lot more than Joe Exotic's

change of heart to save the
world's wild tigers.

JOHN: The situation for
tigers on this planet
absolutely is not hopeless.

We know how to
protect tigers in the wild.

All you need to do is
lock down protected areas,

protect the
tigers from poaching,

protect them
from habitat loss,

and tigers in those
protected areas will thrive.

MARIANA: Consumers on both
sides of the globe will have

to ask themselves
some hard questions.

But what other
choice do we have?

TIM: You know, you,
you talk to kids and,

and you ask them,
"What's your favorite animal,"

and most say tigers.

And if we can't preserve
such a charismatic
species as a tiger,

we can't preserve anything.

Captioned by Cotter
Captioning Services.