The Carole Baskin Interview: An Untold Story
How Carole Baskin ignores attempts to smear her name, and instead keeps fighting for big cats.
Until only a few years ago, you may very well have not heard of Carole Baskin. But since the release of the incredibly popular Tiger King on Netflix, she has become a household name all across the globe. Plenty has been said about Tiger King, and if you haven’t seen it already, I’d recommend giving it a watch. Despite this, I did think that the show portrayed Carole in a very unfair way. They even used footage of her in the second season of the show, without her permission, leading to Baskin suing the company.
I feel bad for Carole. I believe that she is a kind, and genuine person, who just wants to help protect big cats, which are all too often treated without any semblance of humanity. I think that she was presented in a dreadful and morally bankrupt way. It shows how you can do everything in your power to help animals and still be smeared by mass media conglomerates.
Despite this, I don’t wish to focus on the unfair treatment of Carole, and the controversies surrounding the Netflix show, that was consumed by millions over the pandemic, and was Netflix’s’ most popular original during 2020.
Instead, I want to focus on some of the tough, yet fantastic work that she is doing, despite the attempts to smear her name. Baskin is fighting for ‘The Big Cat Public Safety Act’, “which would prohibit ownership of big cats” and would make “it illegal for exhibitors to allow public contact with cubs” (Birmingham Times).
Along with her work on promoting and fighting for this bill, she has continued her work as the CEO and Director of Big Cat Rescue, which is a sanctuary for abandoned and abused cats. You can find out more about their work at their website and donate to support their commendable work there too.
She also starred in a Discovery+ show called ‘Carole Baskin’s Cage Fight’ where she and her husband, Howard, examine the treatment of big cats (UPI).
More recently, she has starred in the movie ‘The Conservation Game’, which “follows retired police officer and exotic animal expert Tim Harrison… and Carole and Howard Baskin” as they try to track down the location of some rare and endangered big cats (Variety).
Carole was kind enough to answer some questions for this piece. I began by asking her about ‘The Conservation Game’ and why people should watch it. She said that:
“The Conservation Game film is for big cats what Blackfish was for orcas...the beginning of the end of their abuse.”
For those who don’t know, Blackfish is a documentary about orcas, which led to SeaWorld ending its orca breeding programme. So, Carole hopes that ‘The Conservation Game’ will have a similar impact, but for big cats.
I then asked Carole whether she plans to continue to use her platform to keep fighting for big cats. She explained how she is:
“all over trying to assist @AZCARMX and others in Mexico to bring down Black Jaguar White Tiger”
Black Jaguar White Tiger purports to “rescue animals born and sold in Mexico from horrible circumstances”, however PETA claims Black Jaguar-White Tiger “is just another sham sanctuary making a profit by exploiting animals.” 911 Animal Abuse reported that there are almost two hundred big cats that are missing, which were at the so called ‘sanctuary’, and that over a dozen there are in critical conditions. So not only are many of the big cats they are claiming to be looking after in critical conditions, but literally hundreds have also mysteriously vanished. Working to bring down this morally bankrupt operation is highly commendable.
On a different note, as aforementioned, Carole rose to prominence after the release of Tiger King on Netflix. I asked her whether the extra press coverage from, and her portrayal in Tiger King has helped or hampered her ability to fight for change. Carole explained that:
“Being portrayed by the producers of Tiger King as a villain has not helped me in this effort to end cub handling and private possession of big cats but it did bring attention to the issue.”
It is very clear to me that Carole truly cares about the cats. If you don’t believe me just look at all she has done, not to promote herself, but to help the cats. For Carole, it is all about the cats. No matter what people say about her, no matter what she has gone through, she has kept fighting for the cats. Carole demands immense praise for this. I’d like to thank Carole for taking the time to answer my questions and I wish her the best in the future, with all the work she is doing for big cats.