HOME / ENTERTAINMENT / TV

'Surviving Joe Exotic': What happened to Kryxis, Kadira, Chobe and Kariba who were rescued from breeder's zoo?

Animal Planet's newest documentary 'Surviving Joe Exotic' focuses on the animals that were abused on Joe Exotic's Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park aka GW Zoo

While it may seem like it was long ago, it has only been a handful of months since Netflix's documentary 'Tiger King: Mayhem and Madness' took the country by storm. Chronicling the big cat breeding career of Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage aka Joe Exotic, 'Tiger King' introduced the breeder to a large audience as he soon gained popularity.

However, 'Tiger King' received criticism for not documenting Joe Exotic's propensity for animal abuse. A new documentary by Animal Planet, titled 'Surviving Joe Exotic', takes care to resolve that by focusing on the animals that were abused on Joe Exotic's Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park aka GW Zoo. In 2019, Joe Exotic was convicted on 17 federal charges of animal abuse (eight violations of the Lacey Act and nine of the Endangered Species Act)[5] and two counts of murder for hire, for a plot to kill Big Cat Rescue CEO, Carole Baskin. He is serving a 22-year sentence in federal prison. 

The Animal Planet special on the animals rescued from Joe Exotic's zoo focuses on Chobe and Kariba, two lions traumatized by a lifetime spent in a tiny cage, and Kryxis and Kadira, two visually impaired tiger litter-mates whose vision was restored after their rescue. The big cats were rescued from the GW Zoo and have since been rehabilitated. Additionally, with assistance from the PETA Foundation, Wild Animal Sanctuary founder Pat Craig relocated 19 tigers from the G.W. Zoo to his 789-acre Colorado refuge in 2017, after a Florida judge determined they were shipped to Joe Exotic illegally.

“Kryxis and Kadira, you could tell that their eyes weren’t working right. It was pretty obvious they were in pain,” Joe Taft, Director of the Exotic Feline Rescue Center, says in the documentary special. “Just their continual aggressive behavior and vocalizations. An almost unceasing growl. Unhappiness.”

The pair were born with visual impairments that left them blind by the time they were rescued from Joe Exotic’s GW Zoo. Since then, their vision has been restored after having correctional surgery at the Exotic Feline Rescue Center in Indiana. A veterinarian explains in the special that the cats’ visual impairments were caused by a congenital defect that affects the eyelids. 

Chobe and Kariba were also rescued by the Wildlife Waystation. However, when the Board of Directors surrendered the license they held to have the animals, the California Department of Wish and Wildlife was faced with the monumental task of finding new homes for all residents. Chobe and Kariba made their way to Wildcat Ridge Sanctuary. While Chobe fared well during the transport, Kariba had been so stressed, she rubbed her face raw on the crate. Now they are doing better, with the Wildcat Ridge sanctuary stating, "Chobe is four years old and has been exploring her new space right aways, while five-year-old Kariba is a bit more reserved."