Predator Pets (2018) Season 1 Episode 5
Who knew that one incident in Zanesville, Ohio would lead an unpredicted legal change in surrounding states in the US. One man's drastic action to set loose his collection of exotic animals opened up an animal massacre that made global headlines. We then adventure on to the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park to visit Joe Exotic, the exotic animal conservationist and country musician.
#documentary #animals
Who knew that one incident in Zanesville, Ohio would lead an unpredicted legal change in surrounding states in the US. One man's drastic action to set loose his collection of exotic animals opened up an animal massacre that made global headlines. We then adventure on to the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park to visit Joe Exotic, the exotic animal conservationist and country musician.
#documentary #animals
Category
🐳
AnimalsTranscript
00:00Humans have had a close relationship with animals for thousands of years.
00:26Scientists agree the domestic dog has been a trusted pet for around 15,000 years, and
00:31cats became part of the household from 10,000 years ago, and now it's estimated there are
00:37at least 600 million pet cats in the world.
00:41Exotic pets have also been kept for thousands of years.
00:46It's well documented that the Egyptians kept baboons as pets, and exotic animals kept in
00:51the home feature in many ancient texts.
00:55In modern times, the keeping of exotic pets has increased.
00:59A staggering statistic is that there are more tigers in the U.S. alone than there are in
01:04the wild.
01:09Animal owners truly believe they are playing a role in preserving the numbers of exotic
01:13animals, but on the other side of the debate, there are those who believe it is a cruel
01:18practice to keep any animals in captivity.
01:22This series explores the issues from both sides, from those who know the dangers, but
01:30see the benefits, to others who condemn the keeping of exotic pets.
01:35Their stories follow.
01:37There are 48 animals that we had to put down.
01:42Those animals included one wolf, six black bears, two grizzly bears, nine male lions,
01:51eight lionesses, one baboon, three mountain lions, and 18 tigers.
01:58I remember it all happening on a Wednesday evening at about 10 till 7 is when I received
02:04the first phone call.
02:07We became international news by the next morning.
02:10It was just a disaster waiting to happen.
02:19Zanesville is a sleepy town in Muskingum County, Ohio, with a population of just over 25,000
02:26people.
02:28Until 2011, Zanesville was best known for its Y Bridge and many beautiful parks.
02:36It's one of the last places in the world you'd expect to find an exotic pet owner with so
02:41many animals.
02:44On one fateful day, the worst example of exotic pet ownership brought Zanesville to the attention
02:50of the world.
02:52Zanesville is a very small, agricultural, very family-oriented community.
03:00Everybody knows everybody, and everybody knows what everybody's doing.
03:03It's a small town.
03:06One of these small town residents was lifelong inhabitant Terry Thompson, a decorated Vietnam
03:12War veteran whose main role had been as a machine gunner on a Huey helicopter.
03:18His wife, Marion, was an avid horse rider and a local school teacher.
03:24Many locals knew that Thompsons kept exotic animals, but Terry was better known as the
03:29man who flew a light plane under the Y Bridge.
03:33A notorious hoarder whose property was scattered with old cars and a dangerous mix of guns
03:39and wild, exotic animals, Terry had drawn attention to himself many times over the years
03:46with his unusual behavior.
03:49Local police sergeant Todd Knavel has vivid recollections of Terry Thompson.
03:54We had dealt with him off and on.
03:57He had just been released from prison just a few days before this incident on a firearms
04:02charge.
04:03We had dealt with him in the past also about the animals, just checking on their welfare
04:09and the safety of the public as far as the containment systems that he provided them
04:14and such.
04:15He had several animals then, 70 some I believe.
04:19He had tigers, he had lions, he had black bears, he had grizzly bears.
04:23He had different apes.
04:25One time he had camels, numerous horses.
04:29There was just animals everywhere.
04:31In the garage there was a couple of tiger cages.
04:33There was a bedroom where a mountain lion, I think, lived.
04:38There was monkeys in the basement in a cage.
04:41Yeah, Terry was different.
04:44Terry always kind of pushed the envelope, but Terry was Terry.
04:48He was never really disrespectful to me or anything.
04:50I was always concerned that either Terry or Marion would be attacked by the animals.
04:56I realized they had a good rapport with the animals, but they're still wild animals and
05:00something would trigger them.
05:01I figured maybe someday we would go up there and find one of them severely injured or killed.
05:07The sergeant's fear was realized on the evening of October 18, 2011.
05:14Terry's notoriety was about to extend beyond the small community of Zanesville.
05:19As the day drew to a close, it is believed that he cut open the cages of more than 50
05:25of his wild animals, setting them free before taking his own life.
05:36Officer Troy Balderson was born and bred in Zanesville and had been a member of the
05:40Ohio House of Representatives since 2009.
05:45This incident was a trigger for him to amend the legislation surrounding exotic pet ownership
05:50in Ohio.
05:51About a mile down the road that evening there was a tournament soccer game going on.
05:56There could have been a lot of tragedy, and there wasn't.
05:59For the most part, no one was injured.
06:01That was one of the biggest accomplishments that I feel that we, that came out of the
06:05situation.
06:06The next thing I saw was a black figure.
06:11It turned out it was a bear.
06:15Sam Kopchak is a retired school teacher and lived next door to Terry.
06:19That evening, he was out in his own yard attending his own horse, Red, when he saw Terry's horses
06:26acting strangely.
06:28I saw the horses that were over there.
06:29There was probably about 60 horses.
06:31I estimate that they had.
06:32They were going around in a circle.
06:33And I said, well, they're not supposed to do that.
06:34Something's going on, you know.
06:37Then Sam saw something even more out of the ordinary.
06:42I actually got Red up there by the corner.
06:44We walked down through here, and I just felt like something was looking at me.
06:49And I kind of turned to the left, and the big male African lion, he came down.
06:55This is about the spot he was sitting.
06:58He just sat down right there, just kind of like that.
07:01And I just kept on going, and I never looked back until I got down to the white fence where
07:06my barn.
07:07And then after I was down by my barn, he was pacing back and forth on the fence.
07:11As you can see, this is like a seven-strand, not a barbed wire, just a smooth wire.
07:16And if he wanted to leap over that, he was big enough that he could leap over that fence.
07:21What Sam soon realized was that the lion was just the beginning of what was about to unfold.
07:28So I actually saw like six animals.
07:30The original bear, and then the lion, the male lion, and the female lion, and another
07:36bear, and the wolf went by, and the tigers.
07:41Sheriff's office.
07:42Yeah, I think I just seen one.
07:43Looks like a jaguar or a wolf or something.
07:49I received a call that some of the animals were out.
07:53We weren't sure to the extent of the situation, but I was requested to come to the scene.
07:59When we arrived, we were advised by one of the patrol sergeants that he had been up in
08:06the compound area looking for Terry or Marion and had seen a body laying out in a field.
08:13That was our first priority, determine who it was and if they were injured or deceased.
08:20We were first approached by, I believe it was two tigers come out of a barn towards
08:25us and as they rushed the truck, we were forced to dispatch them.
08:31Then we arrived in the area of where the body was and it was quite apparent whoever it was,
08:37was deceased.
08:38There was a white tiger chewing on him.
08:42About that time, we were advised that there was two cats ready to exit the compound area
08:49on the south side of the property.
08:52So we had to go over there and dispatch those animals.
08:55I didn't know how many were out, but once we got up there, I had made contact with the
08:59sheriff that appeared that everything had been turned loose and I mean, there was bears,
09:04there was tigers, there's lions running everywhere.
09:06It was a huge concern because it was later in the evening, you know, if it got dark,
09:10the only thing securing that property is just a regular barbed wire fence like you would
09:16have for cattle or whatever.
09:18You know, these animals would have easily cleared that and in a short time they'd have
09:22been in populated areas and injuring, you know, humans.
09:26There was some that had escaped the perimeter, but we had set up officers along the perimeter
09:33to contain that.
09:35I discussed with the sheriff what our situation was.
09:38There was no other option except to dispatch the animals.
09:41We started engaging the animals at different distances.
09:45Some were shot 30 to 50, 70 yards away, but then it came to where we had to go to the
09:50barn areas and that because they were in there and yeah, we had one lioness come at us.
09:56We ended up having to shoot her and she was stopped probably three feet from us when she
10:02finally went down.
10:04Most of us had AR-15s shooting the .223 round.
10:08I was concerned that maybe there wasn't enough power, but after we engaged a few animals
10:13and saw that, you know, the rifle was doing its job, then I felt a little better that,
10:19you know, we could be safe.
10:21It was a coordinated effort to try to keep everything safe and contained.
10:27Sam became an unwitting bystander to a grisly scene.
10:31I saw the deputies pull in and my first thing was, well, this is going to take more than
10:36two deputies to take care of this because if all those animals are out.
10:40And I saw a truck and there was several, probably four deputies on the back with the
10:46guns and they drove back there.
10:50And within a few minutes I could hear shooting.
10:52It just sounded like a big fireworks display.
10:54It just kept on.
10:55It seemed like it went on forever.
10:56I saw them going across the field just like hunters, you know, but the gap between them
11:02with their guns, 49 animals that he killed, one missing and six that were in the house.
11:07So it was 56 total animals that were there.
11:10It was quickly determined that it would have been impossible to control all these wild
11:15animals using tranquilizers and the decision to use live ammunition undoubtedly saved human
11:22lives.
11:23To the best of my knowledge, there was one tiger left and the veterinarian there, I think
11:28her name was Wolf.
11:29She went over and got a perfect shot with a tranquilizer hitting perfectly where she
11:34wanted to.
11:36She, I guess, made the determination how much to give him, you know, how big he was.
11:41He was in the weeds and so forth and he come immediately charging out of there and if the
11:45deputies weren't there, he'd have probably got her.
11:47They had to shoot it.
11:48When it comes down to a situation like that, I realize that animals have rights, but humans
11:54have more.
11:56And you just, you couldn't justify risking human life for the animals.
12:03They had to be somewhat scared.
12:05They were out of their containment systems, running loose.
12:09You just didn't know how they were going to react.
12:11You could kind of surmise that he'd let them go, but it wasn't until, you know, the investigation
12:15was completed later, we were pretty much, we knew that's what had happened.
12:19You know, even if you'd found them in some other containment systems, he cut the fences
12:24so that you couldn't re-contain them.
12:26I'm glad it turned out that no one got hurt.
12:28To have that many animals loose, we were just very lucky that we caught it when we did.
12:34If you're not ready for something like that, we had to deal with what we had to do.
12:38And that's why I think they've come out with legislation on this kind of practice.
12:44It's just, it's not feasible, safety for the public or for the animals.
12:50Immediately following the incident, Ohio ultimately banned the ownership of exotic animals and
12:55their transportation across state lines.
13:00We don't want to see these animals lose their lives over something like this.
13:05They are wild.
13:06I mean, these animals are not domesticated, they are wild animals.
13:12That's what I kept trying to focus on, that's what I did focus on when we did this legislation.
13:16They're wild.
13:17We knew something needed to be done.
13:19The administration knew that something needed to be done and we had to stand up and do the
13:24right thing for the state of Ohio and that's what, you know, I had to make that decision
13:28also.
13:30As challenging as I knew it was going to be, I knew there was going to be a lot of negative
13:33feedback from taking on a piece of legislation like this.
13:37You know, before I started doing this legislation, I did travel the state of Ohio and going to
13:42sanctuaries that, you know, that's the challenging part.
13:45There were people that had sanctuaries that were doing it respectfully.
13:49You wanted to look at both sides of it, but you also had to take the responsibility to
13:54make the right judgment, to set the mind of we weren't going to do this.
13:58We weren't going to allow you to have wild animals without certain restrictions that
14:01you had to abide by.
14:04We had a facility at the Department of Ag that was built out there that took in the
14:09people that could not find places for their wild animals.
14:13They could take them to the Department of Ag.
14:16We stored them there until we could find some place to go.
14:20There are good places out there with facilities that are capable of handling these animals
14:26and, you know, it's some place for these owners that can take their animals that they can
14:31still have a relationship with.
14:33They can still go visit.
14:34They can still go feed.
14:36I think that was important to a lot of them.
14:38You know, it's still there and always will be there, you know, in your mind about it.
14:43I'm just so thankful that nobody got hurt.
14:46It's terrible that he had to die.
14:48It's a very sad thing.
14:50All those animals are buried back there along the road where they buried him.
14:54I mean, they dug a big, put them all in there and see they laid them out.
14:58That was the bad picture on the internet that made people irate because all those animals,
15:02when you saw that scene and the sheriff was very upset, they don't know who took those
15:07pictures and they put them out.
15:09But I mean, but they had to put them, lay them out so they would know they had them
15:13all. And the caretaker was the one, like I said, that was counting the heads and telling
15:17them, well, you know, we do have them all or whatever with it.
15:21But that made it a terrible scene, too, because you see the see all lying there, you know,
15:26like that. So it wasn't too nice to see, but they're beautiful animals and hate to see
15:31them get killed. But if you got a choice between the animals and people, you got to save
15:36the people. And that's what they did.
15:42Exotic pets take all shapes and forms, and often the owners have an incredible and very
15:48special bond with their animals.
15:50And this is undeniably the case with Lisa.
15:56You see this little itty bitty baby, as cute as can be, but that little
16:02itty bitty baby is going to tear you apart.
16:09At no point should you ever feel complacent with a monkey you've never met before.
16:18This monkey was only after the owner's camera, but it's an intense reminder.
16:24This is a wild animal.
16:28If you buy a monkey, be prepared that you are going to get attacked.
16:38Lisa and Mugwai have been friends for 24 years, a commitment that's incredibly
16:43rewarding, but also very demanding.
16:46Beep, beep, beep. Unless you're an educated monkey owner, you're in for disaster.
16:54Every single monkey bites and it's going to bite you no matter what you do.
16:59So, you know, a monkey has to be tamed and then it can be trained.
17:05So it's a process that you have to go through and it takes a lot of taming
17:11to become a good monkey.
17:13When you have a good monkey, it's easy to make new friends.
17:16But if your monkey is a little wild, it may bite strangers.
17:21Many vets will only examine a monkey when it's sedated to avoid any unwelcome wounds.
17:27When these animals hit six years old and start going through puberty, they can become wild,
17:32vicious, dangerous animals.
17:35You know, the training that they've often learned, the domestication they've learned at that early age,
17:39that pretty much goes out the window and you are dealing with literally a whole different animal.
17:43Monkeys frequent the tourist circuit in Thailand and they may seem super cute,
17:48but you always need to keep your guard up and pay attention to what may become aggressive behavior.
17:55Don't be deceived by their so-called friendly antics.
17:58These monkeys are wild.
18:01A lot of these animals carry diseases that are communicable to people.
18:04They're called zoonotic diseases.
18:06And a zoonotic disease is any disease that can be transferred from pet or animal to person.
18:13And some of the diseases are quite serious.
18:15Non-human primates carry herpes and monkeypox and Ebola.
18:23So, again, if you don't know what you're doing, sanitation, care, so forth,
18:27then that's something that you can take on or a family member or friend who's visiting
18:31because the disease is now spread around your home.
18:34You have to step back and look at all that's involved, do your research and education,
18:38depending on the pet and what's involved.
18:40The take-home here is never should be taken lightly owning an exotic pet,
18:45regardless of the size of the species.
18:48We still have monkeys in the United States that are carrying disease.
18:54Probably only a third out of the 40,000 monkeys out there and growing each
19:01and every day, they are not vaccinated.
19:04We've been vaccinating these monkeys for years and years and years.
19:07And we do a serology test to screen everything imaginable that they could possibly have.
19:15This isn't a pet for someone keen on owning a low-maintenance animal.
19:19Monkeys can be a handful.
19:21She's very calm, though.
19:23She'll sit and she'll watch a movie with you, have some popcorn.
19:26She doesn't get into a lot of things.
19:29She used to when she was two, three, four, five, six, seven.
19:35So over the age of 12 to 13, then they really start to be a part of your life.
19:44Capuchin monkeys reach maturity around five years,
19:47at which point their personality can become even more demanding and potentially aggressive.
19:53If you're the prime carer, you really need a lot of training
19:57to make sure the relationship stays on track.
20:01She is eight pounds.
20:04So that eight pounds coming at you full force.
20:09There's a lot of monkey there.
20:10Really, seriously, it's a lot of monkeys.
20:13She's strong.
20:15A monkey on the attack is a situation to be avoided at all costs.
20:21However, for Lisa, this inherent wild animal instinct saved her life.
20:26They're very smart. Yes, I was attacked.
20:29I came home from work and I was attacked in my garage and my monkey saved my life.
20:35A man had grabbed me from behind.
20:37Inside my house on the second floor, they have their two monkey rooms.
20:42And if it wasn't for all four of them that came downstairs and attacked him,
20:47I probably wouldn't be alive today.
20:50All I got to do is give her one sign.
20:53And it says she becomes the wild animal that everyone sees.
20:59I love her to pieces.
21:00We are two people that are inseparable.
21:04Capuchins are most notably renowned as pets of organ grinders
21:09and were in fact introduced as exotic pets from their home territories
21:13of Central and Northern South America.
21:17These mischievous rascals certainly kept the audience entertained.
21:21Plus, they have the ability to carry a cup around to collect money.
21:26From this, their popularity grew for those wanting an unusual pet.
21:30There's pros and cons where exotic pets are concerned,
21:35because our biggest problem is the caretakers and owners
21:39that own them don't have the education that they need.
21:43Lisa has trained around three to four thousand monkeys,
21:47often referred to as the monkey whisperer.
21:51Lisa is the go to person if your monkey is misbehaving.
21:55When I take her to train other monkeys, she helps.
21:59And, you know, it's great for the other monkeys to see
22:02that they can actually be loved, that they can be touched without being hurt.
22:06Or, you know, the mistakes these owners make by using gloves
22:11and using weapons and the shock collars and things like that.
22:15I mean, it's still going on today.
22:18Owning a monkey is a commitment for up to 30 years or more,
22:22while capuchins are the most intelligent of the New World monkeys.
22:26In the human world, they are like toddlers.
22:29But that's how naive these people are.
22:32They think that they're humans and they can treat them as humans.
22:35But they're wild animals.
22:38They have to have a habitat, not a little tiny birdcage, a habitat
22:44so they can be free.
22:46They can jump. They can climb.
22:47They can do they have things to do all the time.
22:52Muggies surrounded by so many, you know, they need their own crying
22:56to be able to communicate, to socialize, to groom each other.
23:00That is a healthy animal in captivity.
23:04I have a huge facility.
23:07A lot of people have come to my door and dropped their monkeys off.
23:10A lot of them came that way.
23:12And all the monkeys that are there have either been injured
23:15and they've been rescued or they've been dropped off.
23:21You have to be a very experienced person to have a primate.
23:26It's a huge responsibility.
23:28I do believe that any of the larger monkeys should not be kept as, quote, pets.
23:35But I do not call them pets.
23:36I call them companions.
23:38These devoted companions may need a lot of ongoing training.
23:42But just like humans, they are always capable of a little monkey business.
23:47I studied animals.
23:49I studied monkeys, their data, the brainwaves, their anatomy.
23:54And because they're so human, you open her up.
23:56She's just like me.
23:58You know, so it's so beautiful, a creature that can do anything that we can do.
24:04I mean, she started my van and her and Madeline ran it into my house in the garage.
24:10So this is how smart they really are.
24:12You know, you cannot turn your back.
24:15Mugwai may be a troublemaker at times, but she also knows when to be well-behaved,
24:21especially when there's the opportunity to go toy shopping for her birthday.
24:26But first, a quick sketch as a thank you gift.
24:29After all, Muggi is a very polite little monkey
24:32and doesn't want to turn up to any event empty handed.
24:36Her name is Mugwai.
24:37Mugwai?
24:39Hi, Mugwai.
24:40Happy birthday.
24:42She'll be 24.
24:4324, that's amazing.
24:46What?
24:46This is for you. She painted it.
24:47Oh, are you kidding me? That is awesome.
24:51Outstanding.
24:53That is really cool.
24:56Ron may not have a monkey in his store every day,
24:59but he's certainly keen to help Muggi find the best present she's ever had.
25:04Wow, we're good.
25:06Let's go shopping.
25:08You like that one?
25:10No, no interest in that one.
25:12No? OK.
25:15When it comes to shopping, Muggi is a girl who knows what she wants
25:19and certainly loves all the attention.
25:21Hey!
25:22Want to check it out?
25:22Come here.
25:23Come here.
25:25Oh, look at the little princess in her chair.
25:31Look at you.
25:33Look how cute.
25:35You got a chain.
25:36You ready?
25:37Come on.
25:38Let's go.
25:39Alright.
25:40Can we have something like this?
25:41Try as she might, Muggi's not listening to Ron's sales pitch for these toys.
25:46Up.
25:47Let's go.
25:48Up, up.
25:49Alright.
25:50Right here, it's like a little cheap Wrangler.
25:52What do you think, sweetie?
25:59Oh my goodness.
26:01Looks like Ron has finally ticked all the boxes.
26:02Back up.
26:03Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.
26:04Ready?
26:05Yay!
26:06Let's go.
26:07No.
26:08No.
26:09No.
26:10No.
26:11No.
26:12No.
26:13No.
26:14No.
26:15No.
26:16No.
26:17No.
26:18No.
26:19No.
26:20No.
26:21No.
26:22No.
26:23No.
26:24No.
26:25No.
26:26No.
26:27No.
26:28No.
26:29No.
26:30No.
26:31No.
26:32No.
26:33No.
26:34No.
26:35No.
26:36No.
26:37No.
26:38No.
26:39No.
26:40No.
26:41No, no, no.
26:42No.
26:43No.
26:44No.
26:451, 2, 3.
26:46Are you a thrill seeker?
26:47Thrill seeker Yellow doesn't seem to hold as much appeal.
26:48However, the scooter looks like fun.
26:49OK.
26:50Hang on.
26:51Can I just rip elbows?
26:52Ready?
26:53You got to steer.
26:54Ha ha ha ha.
26:55Yeah.
26:56Ha!
26:57After all that adventure, it's time for a quick pit stop.
27:12Lurch, are your favorite?
27:14Oh.
27:15What do you think of those, baby?
27:22Her ultimate favorite candy.
27:23Oh, perfect.
27:24Oh, yeah.
27:26The texture and the...
27:27Yeah, yeah.
27:28...vation and everything.
27:29I got a few more for you, bubba.
27:32There's a lot of controversy about owning a monkey.
27:35Not all monkeys have a great reputation, and many certainly aren't as well-behaved as Muguat.
27:41But it seems the key is all about good parenting.
27:44All right, sweetie, your total is $64.94.
27:50You see it right there?
27:51Yeah.
27:52Yeah, that's going to be for your new car, your new Jeep.
27:55What do you think about that?
27:56You going to be a journey girl and go on journeys with mama?
28:00All right.
28:02Here.
28:03She's like, yeah.
28:06Yum-yums?
28:07It comes down to how well they are taken care of, and that is the big picture.
28:20I get judged every single day, but what it comes down to, when they lose control of that
28:27monkey, who do they call?
28:30You can call me names, you can say whatever you want to say, but at the end, you're going
28:36to be begging for my help, you know?
28:39And am I going to turn that person away because they were crappy to me?
28:44No, no.
28:45I'm going to help them because it does not matter.
28:48I don't care about them.
28:50I care about those animals.
28:52That's what really matters to me.
29:07The Greater Winnewood Exotic Animal Park in Oklahoma hosts some of the country's most
29:12interesting big cats, and is home to star personality Joe Exotic.
29:22Originally, I was born in Kansas, grew up in Wyoming, moved to Texas, was there 16 years,
29:29and ended up here when my brother got killed in 1997.
29:33We built this facility as a memorial to him because his dream was to go to Africa.
29:39I've been doing this 32 years now.
29:42It's actually almost 16 years before I moved here, and that's what me and my brother had
29:47was an exotic pet store, and that was where I got my first lion, 16 years before we started
29:53it.
29:54I have built myself my own prison because you can't leave here.
30:00I went to Walmart three years ago, came back, and one of my staff members lost an arm.
30:07911, what's your emergency?
30:08Hey, this is Bobby at the GW Zoo.
30:10Uh-huh.
30:11I need a helicopter.
30:12I've got an employee that was attacked by a tiger, and he's hurt bad.
30:16I need, is it care flight, I guess?
30:19Uh, we don't go in that care.
30:21Okay.
30:22I will have them head that way, okay?
30:25Okay, thank you.
30:26You're welcome.
30:27That's something that I never, ever want to see again, so I've never left here since.
30:35It's a potentially fatal attraction, but Joe's captivation with predatory animals has persisted.
30:45Animals has always been a fascination to me.
30:48I picked up sick animals when I was little and pretended I was a vet nursing back to
30:55health, so it's just kind of something I've been born with.
30:58Ah, the showman side.
31:00You know, it's just because I say what most people are thinking, and they're too scared
31:05to say it, and I have fun.
31:08Anything I do, you can give me a bowl of Cheerios and a glass of milk, and I can motorboat around
31:13that bowl all day long.
31:15Entertaining, I love to entertain.
31:21Joe's love of entertaining has led him to pursue many careers in the spotlight, which
31:26have seen him adopt the stage name of Joe Exotic.
31:30Most recently, he's combined his passion for exotic animals with his successful country
31:35music career.
31:37Singing is kind of an escape from reality to me, and I can write songs about how I feel,
31:45the way people act, you know, misery, happiness, and that's just something that I use for an
31:52escape.
31:57Sure, he's a little eccentric, but he does have ambition.
32:02In 2016, he ran for president against Donald Trump.
32:08I laid in bed one day during the presidential election, and you know, common people like
32:15you and I never get heard.
32:17That's a fact.
32:18You can vote all day long.
32:20You can send a letter.
32:21You'll never get a response, and if you do, it's a form letter.
32:24So I laid in bed one night, and I was like, how in the hell do I ever have a voice?
32:31Woke up the next morning, filled out my federal papers, signed up to run for president, and
32:36you know, I learned more in 11 months of running for president of the United States than I
32:40did in 12 years of high school.
32:43So we gave him a run for the money.
32:45You know, people are like, you lost.
32:47I didn't lose anything.
32:49A hundred million people know who I am.
32:52I got my voice out there.
32:54I got my opinions out there.
32:56I think we won a lot.
33:01Joe's first love, however, has and always will be his animals.
33:06The first time I rescued a tiger, and I still have her.
33:12She's 27 years old.
33:14That was my first real connection, and when you help something, there's a much different
33:22connection there than if you buy something and try and make it a pet.
33:31Taking unwanted, abused animals, I have a whole lot more sense of being able to work
33:37with them.
33:38I'm like their savior, and they know that.
33:42We are here to educate the world, entertain people, and take care of animals.
33:49I don't like the word sanctuary.
33:51We're a zoo.
33:52We're open to the public.
33:53We buy, sell, breed, take in unwanted animals.
33:55You know, there's everything here.
33:57We have 450 plus animals.
33:59We have everything from Michael Jackson's alligators to Steve Martin's chimpanzees to
34:05just John Doe's tiger out of his backyard.
34:08We have a diverse family of animals of all kinds and people of all kinds.
34:13People ask me every day, well, you know, how do you train these tigers?
34:16I don't train my tigers.
34:18I walk among my tigers, and if they want to be petted, we pet.
34:24If they want to be loved on, we love.
34:26If they're laying over in the shade or the sun and they have their ears back and they
34:32just want to be left alone, they're left alone.
34:35The American Veterinary Medical Foundation states that once in captivity, no wild or
34:41exotic animal species should be re-released into the environment.
34:47For many of Joe's animals, his zoo is their final home, and he believes this is the safest
34:53place for them.
34:56The only safe place for an animal in the United States is in a cage, in a zoo, or some
35:04body's yard that can properly care for them.
35:06Unfortunately, society in today's world won't allow even a rehabilitated animal to be turned
35:13back loose in a while.
35:15We just had a bear in Oklahoma a couple months ago, a wild bear, come up on a lady's porch
35:21in town.
35:22I said, what do they do?
35:23They kill it.
35:24You know, they hunt it down and kill it because it came into town.
35:29And this is the most important thing that I hope anybody gets out of anything that I'm
35:33saying, is animals in the wild have no rights, none whatsoever.
35:37We trash our oceans.
35:40We build cities in our wetlands, in our mountains.
35:46We took away their habitat.
35:48But if you properly care for and you don't take away from the wild, I believe any animal
35:55that's bred in captivity, you have a right to own it as long as you take care of it.
36:02While animals like the black bear are native to the states, other animals such as lions
36:07and tigers have been imported, making their care and welfare, once they arrive, a hot
36:12topic.
36:14The placing of exotic animals in wildlife sanctuaries and the motivation behind doing
36:19so is a highly contentious issue.
36:26The federal government of the United States, and this is what we're working on right now,
36:33has tigers and lions on our Federal Endangered Species Act.
36:37Our Endangered Species Act was designed in 1972 to protect native species of our lands.
36:44Tigers, lions, kinkajous, orangutans have no business on our Endangered Species List.
36:51But putting them on our Endangered Species List, what that has done is, you know, private
36:56citizens are not allowed to possess, own, breed interstate commerce, which means sell
37:01across state lines or anything like that.
37:03Two months ago, you saw online that there's too many tigers in America.
37:08A month later, we put them on the Federal Endangered Species List.
37:11In the meantime, they ship a circus tiger in from Peru to America and 13 lions from
37:18another country.
37:19Somebody's got to make up their damn mind.
37:21Have we got too many in America?
37:23Do they belong on the Endangered Species List in America?
37:26And why are we shipping them in?
37:27Because it makes good rescue stories.
37:30We rescued a tiger from Peru and we need to raise $33,000 to care for this damn thing.
37:37And they euthanized it six months later because the money train ran out.
37:43As yet, there's no central database or requirements for exotic animal owners to record and report
37:49on the disposal of animal bodies.
37:52The recommendation is for the bodies to be cremated to ensure animal parts don't find
37:58their way onto the black market.
38:01Between 2000 and 2004, more than $100 million was made from the sale of wild animal imports,
38:09making it a lucrative business.
38:13Everyone to speak his mind, Joe considers it's the money rather than the care and protection
38:19of animals that drives many sanctuary owners.
38:23It is a controversial opinion, and whether he is right or not is yet to be determined.
38:29There's 2,800 registered tigers in America.
38:33There's less than 3,000 in the wild.
38:36Every sanctuary in this country is the same one.
38:39It has nothing to do with helping animals.
38:41All you have to do is show up.
38:43You have to show up.
38:44You have to show up.
38:45You have to show up.
38:46You have to show up.
38:47You have to show up.
38:48You have to show up.
38:49You have to show up.
38:50You have to show up.
38:51You have to show up.
38:52Listen, all you have to do is take the board of directors' names and pull up their tax
38:56records of what property they own, and I'll guarantee you every one of them leaves you
39:00in an over $800,000 house.
39:03This ain't about animals.
39:05This is about money.
39:10Understand this.
39:11If you raise money for animals at a particular nonprofit facility, it better be spent for
39:19them animals.
39:20See, here in America, you have to be licensed by the United States Department of Agriculture
39:26and be inspected to make sure that you're taking care of everything right, following
39:31protocols and vet care and all that stuff.
39:34Only if you're open to the public.
39:35Now, if you're a sanctuary that doesn't exhibit and you're closed to the public, God only
39:40knows what's going on behind them walls, okay?
39:43And see, that's another problem with most of these sanctuaries and these organizations
39:48is they want animals in sanctuaries with no contact.
39:52How would you like to be thrown in jail and never touched or never loved on?
39:59As much as Joe loves his animals, they remain at heart wild and unpredictable creatures.
40:13Some of Joe's most dangerous residents are his bears, and he knows all too well the
40:18potential risk of keeping these unpredictable animals in close proximity to humans.
40:25I've not had good encounters with bears.
40:30We actually have four grizzlies here and three black bears.
40:35They're just as personable as any other animal.
40:39Ozzie, who is our largest grizzly bear, will sit up and give you a high five and French
40:44kiss you and everything else.
40:47Ozzie came from Kansas, and back in the early 2000s when Kaylee Hildebrand was killed by
40:55a tiger getting her senior picture taken, Kansas panicked and passed some laws that
41:00made it illegal for private owners to have animals, and that's where Ozzie arrived to
41:04us from.
41:06Ozzie was a private owner and just had some exotic animals, and this bear loved that guy.
41:13And when he arrived here, he was probably six feet tall standing up on his back two
41:17feet, and this guy walked him around the park just like it was a dog.
41:23He is 100% lovable, as long as that fence is there.
41:28That is as much his security blanket as it is for our safety.
41:36I've been in with him.
41:39He's a 100% different bear.
41:42He weighs about 1,400 pounds.
41:45You know, during the summertime they eat less, they lose a little bit of weight, and during
41:48the wintertime they eat more and they put it on.
41:52For a Syrian grizzly, he's pretty large.
41:55Bears are not as predictable as a lot of animals are, in my opinion.
42:01Bears are something that I've really never specialized in working with, because they're
42:07just so moody.
42:13I had a black bear at one time that we raised called Little Bear, and she grew up in the
42:19gift shop years ago.
42:21And she got out of her enclosure one day and went back to the gift shop and decided to
42:28wreak havoc in the gift shop, because she was playing, you know, everything on the shelves
42:32had to come off the shelves.
42:34And I put a harness on her and went to walk her out.
42:38And bears are much different than tigers.
42:40When they lay their ears down and they do that, you're going to get bit.
42:46Bears may be different to tigers, but that doesn't mean tigers pose any less of a threat
42:52to Joe and his team.
42:58There's days they don't feel good.
43:03There's days they woke up in a bad mood.
43:17Like I said, I built myself my own prison.
43:20If people think that you do this because you're getting rich, they really need to come work here.
43:28You can't leave.
43:31I wouldn't change it for the world.
43:33I have a goal in my life, and that is to be somebody and accomplish something.
43:37And that's the way I was raised, and that's what I'm going to do.
43:41I saw my brother killed at the age of 32 years old.
43:44I buried my first husband here at the age of 32 years old.
43:49And I'm going to leave this world leaving my mark.
43:53I've dealt with so much death in my life, and life's too short to be a tie-dye.
43:57So my personality is, I laugh all the time.
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