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'Cage Fight:' Gloves come off for Carole Baskin's new docuseries

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Updated  November 10, 2021 11:37pm EST
Tampa
FOX 13 News

Carole, Howard Baskin preview 2-part documentary 'Cage Fight'

Cynthia Smoot reports

TAMPA, Fla. - "We were told Tiger King was about the abuse of wild animals," but Tampa's own Carole Baskin -- founder of Big Cat Rescue -- says she and her husband were betrayed by the producers of Netflix’s hit series "Tiger King."

Carole Baskin says they were told the name of the series would be "Stolen World," modeled after the successful "Blackfish" documentary, which led to the beginning of the end of orcas in captivity.

Her husband, Howard, says, "They had shown us video months earlier where Carole was the heroine going after the bad guys, so that's what we were expecting."

Now the Baskins say they're going to show the world, in their own series, what "Tiger King" left out: the cruelty behind cub-petting and tiger trafficking.

RELATED: Carole Baskin denied restraining order against Netflix over ‘Tiger King 2’ footage

"Carole Baskin’s Cage Fight" begins streaming this Saturday on Discovery Plus. 

The Baskins spoke with FOX 13’s Cynthia Smoot about life since "Tiger King" and what kind of cage fight viewers can expect.

Carole Baskin says this isn't about settling a score, but putting the focus back where it belongs, on the cats. 

Says Baskin, "It's about bringing people along with us to show them how critical it is that we stop the cub petting and stop the private ownership."

Big Cat Rescue CEO 'grateful' Joe Exotic found guilty

Previous coverage: The victim of a murder-for-hire plot is sharing her story after the man who tried to have her killed was found guilty in the murder-for-hire plot by a jury in Oklahoma Tuesday.

RELATED: Minnesota wildcat sanctuary housing lions, tigers seized from animal park featured in 'Tiger King'

Carole says she's ready for the fight, but not against Joe Exotic. He's already behind bars, she points out. She says she’s out to catch the rest of the bad guys abusing tigers and other animals.

"When they see who these people really are and the way they are really treating animals, you're right there alongside us seeing this as we're seeing it," Carole said.

Carole Baskin: 'I can't let my guard down'

Previous coverage: Animal rights activist Carole Baskin was in the courtroom when the man convicted of a plot to kill her, as well as animal abuse, was sentenced to 22 years in prison.

MORE: Bobcat kittens adopted by Carole Baskin, Big Cat Rescue after mom passes

That's what she's promising in "Carole Baskin's Cage Fight," to show viewers what she's been doing for years, long before Joe Exotic was convicted of trying to hire a hitman to kill her. She says he wasn't the first person to threaten her life. He's just the one who got caught.

"We speak out against animal abusers. We go after them, and we gather the evidence necessary. They hate us because of that, and they have targeted my life," Carole said.

"Tiger King" also made her the target of rumors and speculation about what happened to her first husband, who disappeared in the late 90s.

Rescued tigers survey new home in Tampa

Tigers rescued from a circus in Guatemala got to explore their new enclosures at Big Cat Rescue.

MORE: Tiger King 2: Netflix says second season of hit show coming in 2021

Overnight, Carole Baskin found herself not just famous -- but infamous.

"And then my phone started ringing and it rang nonstop for the next three months with people just screaming obscenities, people wanting to kill me, wanting to kill my family, wanting to kill the cats. I'd ask them, 'Why the cats? Why do you want to kill the cats?’ They'd say, ‘Because you keep them in those tiny little cages,’ and what they're talking about is those feeding boxes which is what we feed our cats in because that's all people see on "Tiger King."'

Howard Baskin says there was also an outpouring of support from friends and fans who helped get them through it. Now they're ready to take the fight to the abusers.

And they're inviting the world to come along.

Carole says they hired an investigator and they got help from a member of Joe Exotic's own family. She says everything you'll see is real, even when it gets dangerous.

Howard added, "There are places in both episodes where there's gunfire and it's not us shooting and it's not blanks."

Inside Big Cat Rescue

Big Cat Rescue is hidden away in Citrus Park, not far from the mall.

MORE: Feds seize 68 big cats from Oklahoma animal park featured in 'Tiger King'

But it is about putting an end to tiger cub petting, which the Baskins say is the profit motive that drives 95% of the problem.

"When people watch "Carole Baskin's Cage Fight" they're going to see something that is real and the truth is stranger than fiction," Carole said.

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