Two names dominated the early days of the pandemic more than Donald Trump or Anthony Fauci, turning Carole Baskin and Joe Exotic into COVID’s earliest saviors.
They didn’t save any lives over the course of Tiger King, of course, but the Netflix show’s first season was a lifeline for many. It was our distraction, our shared obsession, just as the pandemic was sinking its teeth in, and it became a massive cultural moment as a result. We all know the words to the meme-ified “Carole Baskin,” we all watched every moment of that seven-episode season, and we made it one of Netflix’s most popular shows of all time.
We also made the aforementioned Baskin and Exotic into household names. Hundreds of people dressed up as the animal rights activists that Halloween watched (and were disappointed by) Hulu’s own attempt at that Tiger King cash, and continue to follow the weird and wild details of the most dramatic duo in big cat rescue. If reports are to be believed, however, Baskin will not be making any more appearances in Tiger King-esque stories, which leaves us to catch up with the 62-year-old the old-fashioned way.
What’s Carole Baskin up to these days?
In the wake of Tiger King, Baskin pushed back on a number of claims made throughout the documentary series. She didn’t appreciate the space given to Exotic’s continued accusations of murder — the rival zookeeper remains convinced that Baskin murdered her second husband, Don Lewis — and she felt burned by the methods taken by directors Eric Goode and Rebecca Chaiklin.
As such, Baskin has largely departed the spotlight. She enjoyed her 15 minutes of fame following Tiger King‘s rise, despite the bad reputation it brought with it, and maneuvered that name recognition into a stint on Dancing with the Stars before retreating to her Florida sanctuary.
These days, Baskin is keeping far from the controversy Exotic carries with him at all times. While her former rival refines his 2024 presidential bid from a prison cell, Baskin is eyeing changes as well. She and her husband, Howard Baskin, announced in August that Big Cat Rescue is set to close its doors. The remaining cats in their care, which number in the dozens, will be shifted over to Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge, an Arkansas sanctuary, according to a press release. The transition will take time, of course, and many of the cats won’t be fully relocated for months, but Baskin’s longtime sanctuary is in the early stages of shutting down.
At its peak, Big Cat Rescue had as many as 200 cats in its care, but those numbers have dwindled over the years. These days, only a few dozen cats remain, many of them geriatric, and increasing development directly around the sanctuary leaves them with little nature left to enjoy. As such, they’ll be shifted to a more suitable space, and Big Cat Rescue will continue to fund their care for the remainder of their lives.
Baskin will likely keep plenty busy with the transition, over the next year or so at least, so we probably won’t hear more from her for a spell. She’s too busy helping her big cats find a cozy forever home, far from prying eyes and wandering hands, and far from Joe Exotic.