All language subtitles for Surviving Joe Exotic 2020 WEBRip x264 CAFFEiNE_track3_eng

♪

Man: Alright, we are speeding.
You speeding?

Exotic:
Okay, does sunglasses matter,

So I'm not squinting so bad?

I don't want to look old.

[ laughing ]

Tell me who you are,
what you do.

Okay, well, my real name
is joseph maldonado-passage,

And everybody knows me
as joe exotic.

We are a zoo
open to the public

That takes
unwanted animals.

I have to ask myself that
every day now.

[ laughs ]

I don't know why the hell
I'm doing this.

Give that good-looking mama
a kiss.

There you go.

Get up here and pet him.
Pet him.

Next group!

This is definitely not

One of those things
that you do to make money.

I ain't gonna lie --

It's a labor of love.

Really have to love
the animals.

[ laughs ]

-There you go!
-[ grunts ]

[ tiger growls ]

[ rooster crows ]

[ gunshot ]

Get out of here!

Chase him
all the way around.

[ laughs ]

-- Captions by vitac --
www.Vitac.Com

Captions paid for by
discovery communications

Saffery: Obviously,
the animals was his demise.

It was one of his
stepping stones to the top.

And it was also that
broken board that he crashed

All the way through.

What you doing,
you sexy tiger?

What are you doing?

Saffery: Desperation and greed,
for sure, drove that.

Eastwood: I actually worked
for joe twice.

In the beginning --

The end of '99,
the first part of 2000 --

Joe believed in his head

That there was
some sort of connection

To what he was doing
and conservation.

I went back in 2014,

You had at least once,
twice a month,

Tigers giving birth to cubs
and the cubs being pulled --

50 to 60 cubs a year born.

[ growls ]

It was a tiger mill,
is basically what it was.

Exotic: I don't know
how I become the tiger guy.

I rescued my first tiger
in 1999,

And they've never
stopped coming.

I call it a gift.

I walk among them,

Don't force them
to come to me.

I don't make them do any tricks.
I can walk in a cage

With 14 tigers, and if they want
to come love on me,

That's their option.

If they want to stay away from
me, that's their option, okay?

[ laughing ]

[ groaning continues ]

But anyway...

Fortune and fame.
That's that's what joe wanted.

The animals were
a big part of that.

But at the end of every day,
joe's biggest thing was,

"I want to be famous,
and I want to be rich."

That's joe exotic.

Exotic: Lightning, come on!

Let's go!

Come on. Time to go to work!

Come on, sexy man.

[ chuckles ]

Good afternoon,
ladies and gentlemen.

I'd like to welcome you

To the greater wynnewood
exotic animal park.

My name's joe exotic,

That's thunder,
and this is laughing.

You're gonna get up close
and personal today

With one of them fences
between you and their cages.

We're gonna put tigers
on the ground and you're gonna

Get on the ground
and love on these little tigers

So you can understand
what I do every day of my life

In order to save
these majestic animals.

You know, a lot of people
are against public contact

Of animals
or public exhibition of animals.

And never, never loved on
or never touched.

And to hell with that.

♪

♪

My name is matthew simmons.
Navy veteran,

Co-founder of the lockwood
animal rescue center.

So, we had been involved
in a long lawsuit

Trying to protect wolves
in minnesota.

During this long investigation,

The person owning the animals
took a hard right

And just started shuffling
these animals to the wind.

And 28 of those wolves
were transferred to joe exotic.

So our efforts to rescue them
turned to oklahoma.

We got a phone call
from a lady up in minnesota.

She needed to get rid of them
by that Tuesday.

So we ended up with something
like 26 wolves...

[ chuckles ]
...That I didn't need.

Ah, hell.

Simmons: I knew very little
of joe exotic.

You know, I was somewhat
familiar that there was

This guy in oklahoma
that had a lot of big cats,

But didn't get any more
specifics than that.

Yeah, this place
is interesting.

As I'm walking through
the facility, I mean,

There's, like, a tiger here
and a lion here, and a capuchin,

And they've got chimps
and a baby kangaroo,

And there's camels
licking people's faces.

And I just, you know,

At that point, I know
what crazy looks like.

-How you doing, man?
-Good, man.

And then here comes joe.

All I need to do
is get them pliable.

We're gonna muzzle them,
we're gonna pull dna,

We're gonna pull blood,

We're gonna make
a health certificate.

I needed some edibles.
Nobody brought no edibles?

[ both laugh ]

I needed some edibles
from california

Or colorado.
You didn't bring me none?

We had been working our way
towards picking up 28 wolves,

And we get to joe's
and there aren't 28 wolves.

This is three of them.
Come here, guys. Come here!

And then he goes into
the used car salesman.

"well, you know,
it was 28,

But then it was 26,

And it might be 25

'cause there's two of them
that we can't find,"

And the whole thing.

[ counting under breath ]

14, 15, 16...
[ continues indistinctly ]

Where the hell did reinke get
26 wolves at?

Oh, hell, I forgot
that cage over there.

Yeah, with four of them
in it, right?

[bleep]

I forgot we chucked
four back over there.

Simmons:
All of them off!

Put them on rollers
and let's start running them.

Oh, I'm so gonna need a joint
by the end of the day.

And I don't even smoke weed.

But I'm all for selling it
and making some money on it.

[ laughs ]

Simmons: This is
a cluster [bleep]

We'll get the wolves
and get out of here.

The idea was
I can send them wolves

To california,
to a better facility

That's prepared
to take care of wolves.

And the whole idea is not
to be a hoarder, you know?

Hi!

Hi, baby!

This is way too many
animals.

Hi! Ready to get
the hell out of here?

So, as I'm walking around,

There's, you know, 200 cats
on 50-some-odd acres.

What's up, big guy?

What's up, big guy?

You're starting to pick up
the vibe that,

You know, this animal's blind

And this animal has dwarfism

And this animal is this.

I got the distinct feeling

Every animal there
was on borrowed time.

You need to buy
a baby liliger?

Uh, I...
[ laughs ]

Once animals become money

And once they become
this barter and trade system,

Only the animal suffers.

I mean,
he was trying to sell tigers

To anyone who would buy them.

When they're like five or six
months old, 1,000 bucks.

I mean, he was trying
to sell them to the crew.

He was trying to sell them
to my employees.

He was saying
we can make it a donation.

And no one there had
a permit for tigers.

-These are my film people.
-Oh, okay, okay.

Yep, we film y'all filming me,
in case you lie --

We got the original [bleep].

[ laughs ]

Yeah, I've been down
that road before.

[ laughs ]

This was a unique situation.
I could see the walls coming in.

Before we even got here,
he was nickel-and-diming

My lawyers to reimburse him

For every expense
associated with the wolves.

It was may of 2018,
and now we know

That he was trying
to figure out his exit plan.

You know, rome was burning,

You know, while we were
standing there.

Oh, my god.

God almighty.

I see these two female lions

That are in a 10x10.

Half the roof is off.

And when I walked by,
unlike some of the other cats

At the facility,
they were petrified.

Cats are one of the few animals
that really feed off emotion

And really feed off of
who they're around.

And these two were sisters.

I mean, they should've been
playing with each other

And spending time
with each other.

Instead, they were hiding
in the den box

Like they knew
their day was numbered.

And joe said something
to me like,

"well, you can just
take them, too,"

Like it's a tip
in the transaction.

Girls! [ whistles ]

Say hi. [ meows ]

You know, I don't own
a lion or a tiger sanctuary,

But I knew I had to
get them out of there.

So I reached out
to dr. Richard,

The lead vet
at the wildlife waystation.

They currently live
together.

Alright,
sending pictures now.

I wanted to take them all.

But chobe and kariba

Were the two
suffering the most physically

From their constraints,
and also emotionally.

So I said to joe,

What was once a joke,
was gonna be a tip...

I said, "yeah,
after my phone calls,

I'll take these two lions."

Alright. They're the last ones
on the trailer,

So we'll get
the wolves loaded up.

Guys, I need to get two crates
over here that are empty.

We're gonna load up
these lions.

-Up, and slide her in.
-Two, three!

-There you go!
-[ grunts ]

Eastwood: If you had a cat that
had aged out on the pay-to-plays

And for whatever reason
was not gonna be used

As a breeder or in the show,

Joe would trade them off
as what he termed

Junk tigers, or junk cats --

Ones that's not gonna
make him money.

He may send it
to another facility,

Or it's thrown into
a smaller cage.

There's just no concern
for an animal

That is basically...
What was his term?

"useless," and just
costing him money

Because he had to feed it.

[ laughing ]

One, two, up!

Simmons:
The most likely prognosis

For any animal lowest on
the rung in joe's facility

Is they get shot
and buried in the backyard.

They're not worth transporting.
They're not worth selling.

And that's why chobe and kariba
were selected.

Let's get these on!

I'm upset
that I didn't get there

Ready to do a full evacuation,

That I had only gone there
for the wolves,

'cause I think 100 of those cats
could have been saved.

Exotic: Matt was a super guy,
super guy.

Damn hard to get any money
out of him.

[ laughs ]

Simmons:
Push straight, boys.

You got to kick it back.
-I hear ya.

Simmons: I thought chobe and
kariba's days were limited.

I thought it was the right thing
to do in the moment.

And we never let joe
out of our sights.

We immediately said we'd be
happy to do what we can to help.

[ laughs ]

In literally
every sanctuary in america.

Taft: Well, we took in
two tigers

Born at joe exotic's.

It was pretty obvious
they were in pain.

[ tiger snorts ]

Saffery: I know that joe had
a lot of cubs

That were specifically
gotten rid of

Because they cost too much.

♪

♪

♪

Exotic: Alright, well, anyway,
ladies and gentlemen,

If you've never been
here before,

You don't know who I am,
first of all,

I have no filter, okay?

So if I offend anybody,

I'm gonna apologize
right off the bat.

You drove a hell of a long way
to get here,

Paid some good money,
and I'm gonna make sure

That you're having some fun.
[ baby crying ]

And we cannot have that
in the audience.

[ chuckles ]

[ laughs ]

Ma'am. Ma'am. Ma'am!

Simmons: I mean, the thing is,
once you start

Taking a ticket admission
at the door,

You're in
the entertainment business.

You're in the people business.

You're not in
the animal business anymore.

This next part right here
is funnier than [bleep].

Get up here!

-Good job, ree!
-[ giggles ]

There was nothing about
the animals anymore,

Other than how they could
make joe money.

Mccord:
I was volunteering

And I started working
with the tour groups

And doing some
kind of basic chores.

I watched a lot of the cubs
come in.

And imagine it
from the cub's perspective.

So, you're born,

You are immediately taken
from your mother.

They are then paraded out
in front of masses of people

Multiple times a day,

Every single day.

And then you're either
put in a cage

Anytime it was brought up,
you were told,

"this is how we make money.
They just have to deal with it."

And to read about me
on the internet,

You'd think I run
the shoddiest place

On the planet.

Some of these facilities
find it easier to just use you

As an "escape" goat

Of a shoddy facility,
a roadside zoo,

A tiger breeder,

You abuse baby tigers
because you let people pet them

Or anything else --

Because it makes money.

I've written over the years
about tigers --

Captive tigers, wild tigers.

And something you hear a lot
when you cover this topic

Is that there's clearly a market
for facilities like joe's

That offer cub petting
opportunities.

These are magnificent animals,
and they're adorable

When they're small, and they're
a huge draw to people.

He knows that, and lots of other
facilities know that, as well.

Saffery:
He would walk away

From some of his
sit-down-and-plays

With $10,000 to $15,000.

And that's a slow day.

Exotic: We do not have
a tiger emergency in america.

It's a $500 million-a-year
business on the internet.

Simmons: Just so you understand
pet and play,

You know,
you're creating an animal

That in a short window --
the first eight weeks --

You're gonna make as much money
as you can,

And you now have an animal
for the next 20 years

In your backyard.

Saffery: Those cubs grow up,
and then you have to have

More cubs to continue
the income that it provides.

Unfortunately,
it's never enough

To cover the amount
of money it costs

To tend to an adult tiger,
you know?

And it's just a vicious circle.

We tried our best, but joe
is not easily influenced,

You know, especially by people
who work for him.

I was constantly speaking up,

And it basically got
to the point,

Joe didn't like me being there.

I was doing
the adoption process.

Basically,
it was a sponsorship.

I spent a total
of about $3,800

Over the course
of about...

[sighing] oh, god,
five or six months.

The day that I met siren,
she was two days old

And not with her mother.

So we really built up
a relationship with her.

She knew us
when we showed up.

She would call out
and she would chuff.

And it was so cool

To watch this creature
that's a wild animal grow.

One of the times
I went to go see siren

And I was sitting with her
and they said,

"well, it's time to use her
for the cub petting.

Bring her out."

She was four weeks,
five weeks at this time.

And when she saw the people,
she turned around like,

"nope, I don't like
this situation."

You know, "put me back,
put me back, this isn't good."

And she just started crying.

[ tiger yowling ]

You know, they're crying
because they're stressed

And they're afraid
and they don't understand.

And it was heartbreaking to see.
In fact, it got to the point,

I said, "look,
if I need to donate more

To keep her out of there,
tell me."

And they wouldn't do it.
Joe said, "no,

Every cub has to help,
you know, earn their keep."

And I said, "well,
I'm paying for her keep."

[ laughs ]

So, you know, he said, "nope,
everybody has to have a turn,

And people like the hybrids."

So that was tough.

If you don't like
something that I'm doing,

Let's sit down
and talk about it.

If you've got a better way
to fund it

Or you've got a better idea
than I got,

It's the same way that I'm gonna
run that [indistinct].

[ walkie-talkie tone ]

I need you to bring
no lawn mowers back here.

No noises or anything else,

Or you're gonna have to duck

When this bullet comes
over your head.

Man: Okay.
[ static ]

♪

[ low growl ]

[ growls ]
oh, yeah, looks like it.

Simmons: We were able to bring
chobe and kariba

To the wildlife waystation.

Bringing them there was like
bringing them to a hospital.

[ growling ]

Richard: My first impression
of them was that

They did not have
the benefit of good genes.

Chobe in particular
is kind of stumpy

And looks like a guinea pig.

She's got some degree
of dwarfism.

Both of these girls were
from compromised genetic stock,

I would say.

-[ smooching ]
-[ tiger growls ]

Personality-wise, chobe,
you know, was very aggressive,

Very like,
"I don't like being here."

And kariba was a little more
evaluating of her space.

Both animals seemed disconnected
from their environment,

Almost shell-shocked.

-[ low growl ]
-[ whistles ]

I don't believe they had
a lot of physical activity.

They were overweight and they
had some psychological trauma.

-There you go.
-Come on, girl.

Man: There you go!

There you go, sweetheart.

Richard: Animals
kept in captivity

Who are kept
in small enclosures,

They're not carcass-fed,

They're not asked
to jump and climb and run

And do all the things that
their bodies are built to do.

You're gonna compound
those underlying problems,

Those congenital defects
that you've bred in.

-Hey, hey!
-Go, baby. There you go.

Richard: My primary goal
for chobe and kariba

Was to try to nurse them
into a healthier

Emotional and mental place,

Break that wall of shell shock

And start them
acting like normal lions.

And that just took time.

But it was very difficult for me
that we didn't have

The space to offer them

That I think they really
could have benefited from.

Simmons: Under the care of
dr. Richard at the waystation,

We had started to overcome

All the physical problems
facing chobe and kariba,

But the waystation
was not a permanent home.

Richard: I was hoping that
they would move on from us

To somewhere where they could
have a bigger space

And they would have
the opportunity to move around

And have the life
of being a real lion.

They both had pretty severe
issues with their eyes.

I thought about how much pain
they must have been in.

I think there was
some amount of neglect.

Joe's theory -- let's just
call it a theory --

Was the sabertooth tiger

Could be brought back
into existence,

Because it was just a mixture
of every big cat.

50 years from now,
hybrids are the only ones

That are gonna be able
to withstand our climate change.

[ birds chirping ]

♪

Exotic: This park
is a beautiful park.

To read about us
on the internet,

You'd think it'd be
a piece of [bleep].

[ chuckles ]

Huh, cletus?

Too many people have too many
opinions on what a sanctuary is,

They're just behind
this great big fence.

And I don't even know, you know,
what kind of fence they got,

But let's just pretend they got
a great big wooden fence.

I don't think that animals
should be locked in a jail cell

With no tender loving care,
you know?

♪

♪

Defrees: Hey, boys.

Lay down.

Good boy.

A sanctuary should be

A sanctuary. [ chuckles ]

So all we're trying to do

Is make sure the animals
are well taken care of.

That is the underlying reason

For literally everything
that we do.

It's just the keepers
that are around the animals.

We kind of consider ourselves
a retirement home

For abused animals.

Ideally,
we'd like to not exist,

But people keep breeding
tigers, so...

We first heard about
chobe and kariba

When they were
at wildlife waystation.

We were contacted
and we immediately said,

"absolutely, we'd be happy
to do what we can to help."

Richard: We'd had chobe
and kariba for about a year

And they had the opportunity
to go to wildcat ridge.

This would have given them an
opportunity to have more space

And to live in a vastly
improved enclosure.

I knew that that was
an opportunity

I didn't want to pass up
for them.

Defrees:
Hi! What a good girl.

Simmons: You have to give
the animal enough space

To be what it's created to be.

I mean, the biggest thing about
lions is that they need grass,

They need water,
they need to explore,

They need other creatures,
they need a living habitat.

They do a great job
of doing that at wildcat ridge.

Defrees: Hi, pretty girl.
Yeah.

Pretty girl!

I'm making the diets
for our lions.

Chobe really likes liver,

So we're gonna give her
some of that.

We make every diet specific
to every cat

So we can weigh out every diet
every day

So we can determine
that they are getting

The same amount of food
every day,

And we can adjust it as needed

Based on their weight
and their health.

♪

♪

Hi!

Chobe is relatively young.
She's 5 years old.

She is a lot smaller
and stockier

Than your traditional
female lion.

She also has quite a large head.

Her eyes are
two different sizes.

Her pupils are
two different sizes.

It is a sign of being inbred.

Joe exotic bred her parents
with each other

Just to mass-produce
as many lion cubs as he could

Because they were
the most profitable.

He just cared about the product,
which was a cub,

Or something that he could sell.

We were successful breeders.
That's for sure.

But we were being irresponsible.

And that's a problem, too.

Ford: Because joe was
such a notorious breeder,

There are cats that originated
from joe exotic's facility

In literally every sanctuary
in america.

He's sort of...
He's not patient zero,

But he's kind of that hub
that everything grew out from

Because he was just
pumping these kittens out

Left and right.

♪

♪

This is a fairly large
enclosure,

Probably covers 3/4 acre,

Lots of vegetation.

And somewhere in there,
there's a tiger.

We provide animals
with a lifelong home.

Once they come here,
we are committed to keeping them

For the rest of their life.

[ tiger chuffs ]
hi, buddy.

[ tiger moans ]

We took in three tigers
last February.

Two of them had been born
at joe exotic's.

♪

Brulliard: Two cats had been
born at joe's zoo,

Sold to a private owner

Who then eventually gave them up
to a sanctuary in texas,

And that sanctuary
couldn't keep them

And sent them to this place
in indiana.

So, their story
was not incredibly unusual.

These are cats who are
sort of passed around

From place to place.

Taft: Kryxis and kadira,
you could tell that

Their eyes weren't
working right.

It was pretty obvious
they were in pain.

[ tiger growls ]

Just their continual
aggressive behavior

And vocalizations.

[ growls ]

An almost unceasing growl,

An unhappiness.

They both had pretty severe
issues with their eyes.

The defect was a full-thickness
defect of the eyelid.

That defect is called
eyelid coloboma,

And that just literally means
that that part of the eyelid

Didn't form
and there's a hole there.

This was a congenital defect.

Inbreeding could be
an underlying cause

Of this abnormality.

I thought about how much pain
they must have been in

For their whole entire lives,

That this is something
they had been born with

And they were 4 years old.

So I think there was
some amount of neglect.

Oh, you know, it should be
all about animals.

[ chuckles ]

Saffery: Veterinary bills,
they cost too much.

Joe did come back down
to numbers every time.

Anything that cost
too much money,

Joe found a way to place them
somewhere else.

At that point,
it's a bill in his eyes.

You know, that's just
the reality of it.

We gave birth to america's
very first baby liligers.

Saffery: Once he realized
he could do it,

He just went gung ho for it.

A lot of these hybrid animals
end up with problems.

[ tiger growls ]

What's the endgame?

[ growls ]

♪

It was pretty obvious
they were in pain.

Dr. Klein came out
to our facility.

We immobilized these cats
and took them into our clinic,

Where she performed
a fairly lengthy procedure.

Klein: This is the first time
I had done

Surgery on a tiger before.

I think the most
anxiety-provoking part

Was I had to immediately
assess them

And then make a decision about
what was I gonna do about it.

Because it is difficult
and potentially stressful

For them to go under anesthesia,
so it's something that we wanted

To try to get a fix
with one surgery.

What I decided to do

Was a procedure
called a wedge resection,

Which is a surgery I do a lot
on smaller animals,

But not one I've ever done
on a tiger before.

And what I basically did
was removed the edges

Of the eyelid
where it was abnormal.

And then I took those edges
and stitched them together

To create sort of
a normal eyelid margin again

And remove those hairs
that were rubbing on the eye.

♪

♪

I wasn't completely confident
that we had fixed

The problem entirely.

I'm hoping that with time
we're gonna be able to see

That they feel much better

And are able to confidently
get around their enclosures.

Four years ago, we thought
that we would try

Putting a liger with a lion.

And four years later,

We gave birth to
america's very first set

Of baby liligers.

And the only place in the world

That this has ever happened
is in russia.

So if it wasn't for private
breeders and private zoos

Such as
the garold wayne zoo here,

This would never have
happened in america.

I started out hybreeding

Off of just an idea
that I always had that

They all came from one cat, and
that was the sabertooth tiger.

Eastwood: Joe's
sabertooth tiger theory --

Let's just call it
a theory --

Was that the sabertooth tiger

Could be brought back
into existence

Because the sabertooth tiger,
in joe's theory,

Was just a mixture
of every big cat.

So, what I'd done was I built

Kind of a little continent
of my own here

And I put tigers on one side
and lions on the other side.

And lo and behold,
they bred,

And that's where I got
my first ligers.

Saffery: Once he realized
he could do it,

He just went gung ho for it.

We're fixin' to have
babies there,

And that'll be
a whole new species.

Got the world's first tiligers.

Mccord: He was very proud.
Joe would not be quiet

About that breeding program

And how he was,
you know, revolutionary.

We've been able to prove
a couple things.

One is hybrid animals
are stronger --

Genetically stronger.
They don't get sick.

They live longer.
They're healthier.

Kind of like a mutt dog.

You know, you can run over
a mutt dog

And he'll never need to go
to the vet.

And in 30, 40, 50 years
from now,

Hybrids are the only ones

That are gonna be able
to withstand our climate change.

And we actually told him that
he needed to stop saying that."

[ laughing ]

Joe's breeding of those cats
was legal.

There were not state laws
that prevented that.

Saffery:
Because they're hybrids

And it takes years for the usda
to come up with standards

And protocols
for these exotic animals,

They don't have any --
zero protocols on them.

Because there's
no regulations on them,

It was easier for him
to just continue to do it.

Richard: A lot of these
hybrid animals

End up with problems
physically and psychologically.

I think if mama nature
didn't make it,

It's not supposed to be there.

There is no conservation value
in creating

Boutique big cat species.

They don't exist in nature.

You can breed
an 800-pound liger or tiligon,

But as a veterinarian,
when I look at that animal,

All I see is a lifetime of pain
and suffering

For that creature.

Saffery:
I know now, though,

There's absolutely no reason
for hybridization.

There is no wild
for hybrids.

You got to keep in mind,
they've been in captivity

For over 17 generations.

They have no idea
how to kill anything.

So, what's the endgame,

If it's not just for
our, my simple entertainment?

Do you feel like
he can see better now?

Oh, yes.

Klein:
Hey, pretty girl.

I think there's
a pretty drastic improvement.

You seem so relaxed
right now.

Taft: That just sort of
hits you over the head --

Wow, he's better.

♪

♪

♪

Klein: Are they still
all together, or is she...?

Taft: They're still
all together.

That's kadira.

Hers looks good.
She doesn't have discharge.

Her eyes are open.

Hey, pretty girl.

Looks like everything's
healed up well.

And here's kryxis.

Kryxis could get
a little mad.

Does he still get mad?
No.

I mean, you couldn't get
this close to him a year ago.

That wasn't just me, right?
-No, that was everybody.

Yeah. And he seems
so relaxed right now.

Yeah, I mean, I think we've
accomplished the main purpose,

Which was to get him
out of pain.

Mm-hmm.

And do you feel like
he can see better now

Than he did
when he first came here?

Oh, yes.

He makes use
of this whole area.

Mm-hmm.

Well, I don't see any discharge
on his face or hers.

Mnh-mnh.

They are doing so much better.

And I think
that their quality of life

Has got to be so much better,

And they seem to be
out of discomfort.

I think there's a pretty drastic
improvement

Those moments sort of
sneak up on you.

You know, you watch him getting
better and getting better.

And then all of a sudden,
there he is,

And he's not growling,
he's not snarling,

He's not telling you
to go away.

And all of that
just sort of wells up

And hits you over the head --

Wow, he's better.

Klein: If they have to live
in captivity,

I'm happy that they can be
in a place like this

Where they're so well cared for
and loved and treasured.

Kryxis and kahira
will have a stable home

For the rest of their life.

I've definitely visited
many other facilities.

It's very easy to tell
whether or not an animal

Is gonna thrive
in an environment or not.

Our place looked like a dump
compared to this.

And I would have loved
to turn around and pack up

Another 15 of my animals
and put them there, for sure.

♪

Ah, hell.

He did express regret.

Being in jail had shown him
that captivity was cruel.

He said that he would be willing
to be a spokesperson for peta.

I think some people buy it,

And most people don't.

♪

♪

♪

Our keepers are so fricking good
at coming up with new

And creative types
of enrichment for our cats.

Every one of the animals
that we have,

Every resident
that's ever been here,

Just like people,
they're all different.

Woman: Hey, chobe!
Get it.

They really like things
that are hanging.

Usually, things that we hang up
don't stay up for very long.

They like to chew apart boxes.
They like to rip them up.

Sometimes,
they lay on the boxes

And flatten them
and roll around in them.

Enrichment is really
important here

Because they get
the physical stimulation,

They get the physical exercise,
they get to use their brains.

Mental health is important
for animals, too,

And enrichment plays
a big part in that.

♪

Simmons: You're not a lion
until you're on grass.

You're not a lion
until you roam a prairie.

And chobe and kariba's
transformation is...

I mean,
it jumps off the page.

I mean, in joe's,
they were in a 10x10,

Waiting to die.

And a year later,
they're roaming on grass,

Beginning to be a lion.

Their relationship together
has gotten stronger.

They're relying on each other
for love and enjoyment.

I mean, very few lions
do I see

Spend that much time
on their backs.

♪

For us in particular,
as long as people continue

To breed and exploit
captive-born animals,

We will need to exist,

Until there are laws passed.

If I was to enter
the animal industry again,

It would be in the capacity
of a sanctuary setting.

Sanctuaries, they're doing it
strictly based off

Of the needs of their animals.

I think that's a beautiful,
beautiful thing.

Brulliard: I spoke to joe
by phone when he was in jail.

And as for his business
with animals,

His relationship with animals,
he did express regret.

He told me being in jail
had shown him

That captivity was wrong
and was cruel,

And that if he got out,
he would commit himself

To promoting
cageless animal existence.

He said that he would be willing
to be a spokesperson for peta.

You know, whether he means that
or not is not clear.

I think some people buy it,

And most people don't.

Saffery:
Life after joe exotic

Has been kind of
a roller coaster ride for me.

Who am I

If not the tiger trainer,

The tiger handler?

That part's always
come first, always.

Even over my own health.

I think what I'm focusing on
is just to be a father,

You know, and a spouse,
a husband.

You can only see as much as you
allow yourself to see.

And for joe, unfortunately,
he didn't see anything else

But that one line that he needed
to get to the top.

Nothing else mattered.

I didn't intend to start out
as a cat guy.

I started out with a deer!

Rescued my first tiger, and they
never quit coming since then.

I think the lesson
for everyone involved

Is definitely let your passion
be something that drives you,

But don't let it be something
that consumes you.

Got that on camera?

Ah, hell.