‘Tiger King’: Carole Baskin Closing Big Cat Rescue, Selling Land

Tiger King star Carole Baskin’s big cat rescue will soon be no more. CNN reported that Baskin is closing her big car rescue and selling the land that her business was on. According to her husband, Howard Baskin, they’ll be moving the big cats to a location in Arkansas where they will continue to be looked after. 

Carole’s Big Cat Rescue, which was profiled in Tiger King, will be closing down. In a memo, her husband shared that it was always their intention to put the Florida rescue out of business, as it meant that they had done their jobs in protecting big cats who needed their care. Howard’s message began, “Big Cat Rescue has entered into an agreement with Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge, an accredited sanctuary in Arkansas, to move most of Big Cat Rescue’s cats to Turpentine Creek where we will continue to fund their care for the rest of their lives.”

After moving all of the animals to the new location, the property will be sold. Proceeds from the sale will go towards funding “these species-saving projects in the wild.” Howard continued, “We have always said that our goal was to ‘put ourselves out of business,’ meaning that there would be no big cats in need of rescue and no need for the sanctuary to exist. Supporting our cats in larger enclosures at Turpentine Creek, at much lower cost per cat than we incur by continuing to operate Big Cat Rescue, will free up resources to let us do much more to save big cats in the wild.”

Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge, where Carole’s Big Cat Rescue animals will go, released a statement about the news. The refuge shared on Facebook that they would be taking in 35 cats from Carole’s rescue as a part of an expansion plan so that they can create “a sustainable future for animals rescue.” Their message read, “Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge was approached and asked to take in BCR remaining cats. BCR no longer conducts rescues and will be pivoting their goals. There is no professional affiliation between TCWR’s ownership, operations, or management and BCR.”

Howard mentioned in his memo that they made this decision partly after the passage of the Big Cat Public Safety Act. This legislation, which was passed by the House of Representatives in 2021, prevents unlicensed people from owning tigers, lions, jaguars, and other wild animals. Carole’s husband wrote, “With the passage of the BCPSA we expect the need for rescues to decline over the coming decade. If the need were going to continue at the pace we saw up until a few years ago, we would be making a different decision.”