Tiger King: What is the true story behind the Netflix series and what happens at the end?

14 April 2020, 11:01 | Updated: 14 April 2020, 11:06

Tiger King- Murder, Mayhem and Madness | Official Trailer

Tiger King has taken the world by storm - here's your need-to-know on the true story behind the Netflix docuseries.

Tiger King is the latest Netflix show that everyone's obsessing over, and nobody can believe how crazy the docuseries is.

Unbelievably, the series features real people and is based on true events. Here's your need-to-know on the wildest documentary on Netflix.

It tells the story of Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin - the former an owner of a big cat private zoo, and the latter an animal rights activist who tried to take him down.

Joe Exotic is currently in prison, serving 22 years for allegedly plotting to kill Carole.

Joe Exotic is currently serving prison time. Picture: Netflix

What is the true story of Netflix's Tiger King?

Joe Exotic - thought to be the most prolific big car breeder in the US - gained a huge amount of notoriety for his treatment of the animals.

He came under intense scrutiny from animal rights activist Carole Baskin, who is the owner of animal charity Big Cat Rescue.

Carole campaigned to get him to stop him breeding the animals, and the two became enemies - which is said to have led him to plot to kill her, something he was later imprisoned for.

Carole Baskin recently told Vanity Fair of the documentary: "I think for Joe, [the feud] was probably very personal because people said there wasn’t a day in his life that he wasn’t ranting and raving, and carrying on and calling out my name.

"But for me, he was just one of about a dozen of these bad guys that I was exposing online, talking to reporters about, and saying, ‘no, conservation [does not mean] breeding tigers for use as pay-to-play props."

Carole Baskin is an animal rights activist who Joe Exotic allegedly plotted to kill. Picture: Netflix

What happens at the end of Tiger King?

The final episode looks at the aftermath of Joe Exotic's conviction, with several individuals offering their thoughts on his sentence.

When did Joe Exotic go to prison?

On January 22 2020, Joe was sentenced to 22 years in prison for plotting to kill Carole Baskin. He is currently three months into his sentence.

The lead prosecutor said in a statement: "The Tiger King: that’s how [Joe] has marketed himself and lived his life. But here’s the thing with kings — they start to believe they’re above the law.”

He continues to maintain his innocence, and said in a recent statement: "I still maintain my innocence and look forward in the upcoming days to my attorneys filing my appeal and moving on to the next step in this nightmare.”