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‘Surviving Joe Exotic’ Documentary Coming to Animal Planet

The Hollywood Reporter

by: Josh Wigler
Months after the release of Netflix’s Tiger King documentary series, Animal Planet has announced a new special centering on Joe Exotic.

Titled Surviving Joe Exotic and premiering July 25 on Animal Planet, the documentary is set to tell the stories of the animals at the center of Joe Exotic’s big cat breeding business, and the stories of those who found new homes after the G.W. Zoo.

Surviving Joe Exotic will feature one of Joe Exotic’s final formal interviews before his arrest, based on never-before-seen footage filmed in 2018 for Animal Planet’s Wolves and Warriors. In addition to the Exotic interview, Surviving Joe Exotic will include interviews with former G.W. Zoo employees, such as Saff Saffery, who lost an arm to one of Joe Exotic’s tigers.

The special will introduce viewers to surviving animals such as visually impaired tigers Kryxis and Kadira, whose vision was restored after rescue from the G.W. Zoo through surgery at the Exotic Feline Rescue Center in Indiana, as well as Chobe and Kariba, who were relocated to the Wildcat Ridge Sanctuary in Oregon.

Surviving Joe Exotic is produced for Animal Planet by ITV America’s Leftfield Pictures, in association with Luce Change Inc. Gretchen Palek, Shawn Witt, Dave Luce and Karen Kunkel Young serve as executive producers. For Animal Planet, Keith Hoffman is executive producer and Sarah Russell is supervising producer.

Surviving Joe Exotic airs July 25 10 p.m. ET/PT on Animal Planet.