Striped Reckoning charts the shocking history of exotic big cats in the U.S., and how the struggle to drive a trio of “Tiger Kings” out of business led to a momentous new law protecting these majestic animals.
Striped Reckoning
Tiger Kings and the Battle to Rescue America's Captive Big Captive Cats
Publisher: Bison Books
381 words/paperback
Big cats have been used in circuses and movies and paraded onto television talk shows, encouraging ordinary Americans to think of these apex predators as docile and adorable. Breeders made small fortunes selling cubs and charging customers to pose for photos with them, only to neglect and abuse them behind the scenes.
Striped Reckoning explores how animal advocates worked to drive modern-day Tiger Kings Joe Exotic, Tim Stark, and Jeff Lowe out of business. After Exotic was convicted of trying to arrange the murder of a sanctuary owner, his story exploded on Netflix, and the federal government moved in on Stark and Lowe. Sanctuaries and animal welfare groups stepped in to rescue and rehabilitate the big cats that were left behind. Their advocacy led to a momentous new law protecting these majestic animals.
“This heartrending book belongs on the shelves of animal lovers everywhere.”
Author and animal advocate Marc Bekoff
Excerpt from Striped Reckoning
A century ago, nearly 100,000 tigers roamed the world’s jungles. Today, fewer than 6,000 remain in the wild. A greater number of tigers exist in captivity—as many as 4,500 in the United States alone. Lions, jaguars, leopards and other big cats are in danger too.
For decades, most big cats born in this country were produced by zoos and big cat mills. Disreputable breeders would sedate the mothers and steal their cubs, kickstarting the breeding process all over again. The captive cats might churn out two or three litters a year, more than twice the number of litters they would deliver on their own.
Breeders made a fortune from cub-petting, but the window of opportunity closed quickly: by the time the cubs were about four months old they were too big and dangerous to be handled. At that point, male cubs, considered useless, were often killed, females were relegated to small wire cages and bred repeatedly to produce more cubs. Or they were sold to private buyers who tried to keep them as pets. Malnourished from poor diets and denied any form of enrichment, they had no chance to lead natural lives.
Where were the authorities? After all, tigers are an endangered species. They’re supposed to be protected from harm. And nearly two-thirds of the states had banned private ownership of big cats. But inspectors for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the agency responsible for overseeing animal welfare, have been few in number and too overworked to keep a close eye on private zoos. Too often they renewed exhibitors’ licenses even after documenting bad conditions.
The Netflix series “Tiger King: Murder, Madness and Mayhem” began to change all that. It dragged into sharp focus the dark realm of big-cat breeding in America. It led to the arrest and conviction of infamous breeder Joe Exotic and to a clampdown on fellow dealers Tim Stark and Jeff Lowe. Two years later Congress approved, and then-President Joe Biden signed a monumental new law banning cub-petting and the private ownership of big cats.
Praise for Striped Reckoning
“Striped Reckoning chronicles the astonishing brutal mistreatment and rescue of lions, tigers, and other big cats in America and tells how the downfall of ‘Tiger King’ Joe Exotic helped give them some hope and new lives. This heartrending book belongs on the shelves of animal lovers everywhere and surely will capture the hearts of anyone who has ever loved an animal. It’ll make you think twice about seeing any lion or tiger in captivity again.”
―Marc Bekoff, author of The Emotional Lives of Animals: A Leading Scientist Explores Animal Joy, Sorrow, and Empathy―and Why They Matter
“An engrossing and dismaying account of the business of big cats in America. Sadly, more tigers are now in captivity in the U.S. than in their native habitats. Carol Bradley takes us on a wild tour through the backyard and roadside zoos and faux sanctuaries where people besotted with big cats store, breed, and destroy lions, tigers, cheetahs, and others. Recent federal laws give her hope, but the underlying problem remains: people’s lust to own wild creatures.”
―Virginia Morell, author of the New York Times bestseller Animal Wise: How We Know Animals Think and Feel
“In her not-to-be-missed Striped Reckoning, Carol Bradley has once and for all put to rest the notion of a ‘humane’ treatment of the magnificent big cats caught and forced to perform or to serve as pets. The book provides an unflinching, sometimes disturbing, yet ultimately hopeful account of the efforts of big cat activists to discredit the activities of a seemingly endless array of unscrupulous showmen, misguided collectors, and ill-intentioned zookeepers oblivious to the welfare of an amazing set of creatures never meant to live in captivity. It is a fascinating and touching work.”
―Les Standiford, author of the New York Times best-selling Last Train to Paradise
“Carol Bradley has kidnapped me. I am locked inside her new book. What a gripping, confounding revelation full of twists as good as your favorite detective novel. Except, of course, this time it’s true. Brilliant!”
―Luis Alberto Urrea, author of the Pulitzer Prize finalist The Devil’s Highway: A True Story
