Netflix’s recent documentary miniseries Tiger King has wild animals, ex-felons, a brief presidential campaign, polygamy, a murder-for-hire plot, and a huge cast of eccentric characters. It follows Joseph Maldonado-Passage, better known as “Joe Exotic,” the owner of Oklahoma’s Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park, which was, in its heyday, a prominent cub-petting, tiger-breeding operation and private zoo. Now Maldonado-Passage is serving 22 years in prison for plotting to have a critic murdered, killing five tigers, and illegally selling tigers across state lines.

Because the series is character-driven, it doesn’t spend a lot of time on the animal welfare and trade issues that surround the captive-tiger breeding industry. Exotic pets, captive wildlife, the illegal wildlife trade, and even Joe Exotic are