Travis Maldonado

The American true crime documentary streaming television miniseries Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness (titled onscreen as simply Tiger King) features a large cast of characters, with the majority of them being big cat enthusiasts.

Netflix and viewers described the cast as eccentric.

Mahamayavi Bhagavan Antle (born March 16, 1960), better known as Doc Antle, is an American animal trainer and private zoo operator.

He is the founder and director of The Institute for Greatly Endangered and Rare Species (T.I.G.E.R.S.) in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and Myrtle Beach Safari, a tour that runs through the facility.

He is a self-described conservationist and is the executive director of a Rare Species Fund, although the extent to which this funds conservation projects has been disputed.

Carole Baskin (née Stairs Jones; born June 6, 1961) is an American animal rights activist and owner of Big Cat Rescue, a non-profit animal sanctuary based near Tampa, Florida.

Baskin drew public attention for her role in Tiger King.

The Netflix series follows both Baskin and Joe Exotic, filming their ongoing and escalating feuds over exotic animals in private zoos.

Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage, (né Schreibvogel; born March 5, 1963), popularly known as Joe Exotic, is an American former zookeeper, convicted felon and the former owner and operator of Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park in Oklahoma.

He claimed to be the most prolific breeder of tigers in the United States.

He ran as a candidate for president of the United States as well as for governor of Oklahoma, but neither campaign managed to garner significant public support.

Aside from his career as a zookeeper and his political runs, Exotic had several side-projects, including his country music, magic shows, a career in the police force, and a professional wrestling commentator.

For over 20 years, Exotic was the owner and operator of the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park, known for its big cats.

He operated an online reality television show that he streamed from his zoo.

Over the years, he operated sideshows around the country, allowing people to pet tiger cubs.

He also staged shows at fairs and in shopping malls.

Antle was fined by the USDA for abandoning deer and peacocks at his zoo in Buckingham, Virginia in 1989.

In total, Antle has more than 35 USDA violations for mistreating animals.

She and Don Lewis founded Wildlife on Easy Street, an animal sanctuary near Tampa for big cats, in 1992.

She is the current chief executive officer of the sanctuary, which she renamed to Big Cat Rescue sometime after Lewis's disappearance in 1997.

She has used social media such as Facebook and YouTube and her "The Cat Chat" podcast to promote activism against private zoos.

Exotic engaged in a pattern of harassment against Baskin, including trademark infringement.

He and Carole met in November 2002 at a kick-off party for the newly formed No More Homeless Pets organization.

He joined Big Cat Rescue soon after as chairman of the advisory board.

He proposed to her in November 2003, and they married in November 2004.

In 2013, a court ordered him to pay Baskin $1 million in damages, leading to his bankruptcy.

In 2019 he was convicted on 17 federal charges of animal abuse (eight violations of the Lacey Act and nine of the Endangered Species Act ) and two counts of murder-for-hire, for a plot to kill Carole Baskin, the chief executive officer of Big Cat Rescue, an animal rescue organization for exotic cats.

Exotic was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison, though his sentence was later reduced to 17 years in July 2021.

Exotic is the main focus of Tiger King, with the documentary discussing his zookeeping career, political runs and feud with Baskin.

As a result of the documentary, Exotic received significant amounts of attention on social media, inspiring several internet memes and gaining a fanbase.

In prison, Exotic has been writing an autobiography.

In late December 2019, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources and Horry County Police Department raided Doc Antle's Myrtle Beach Safari.

Antle said the agencies came to collect DNA samples from three young lions that descended from Wilson's Wild Animal Park in Virginia which was closed down due to animal welfare issues.

In Tiger King, Antle's facility was described as a personality cult, and Exotic accused him of killing tigers in gas chambers to make space for further breeding.

In 2020, he was convicted of attempting to hire a hitman to kill her.

Howard Gene Baskin is an American animal rights activist and the third husband of Carole Baskin.

Antle has faced criticism from conservation organizations and animal rights groups for his treatment of animals, and was indicted on 15 charges related to wildlife trafficking and animal cruelty in 2020.

Rick Kirkham is an American filmmaker.

He began his career a reporter for Inside Edition who appeared on a segment called "Inside Adventure".

From the age of 14, he filmed more than 3,000 hours of a video diary; this included footage during his tenure on Inside Edition during which he was addicted to crack cocaine.