Carole Baskin is an animal rights activist as well as the founder of Big Cat Rescue, an animal shelter. Carole Baskin’s appearance in the docuseries Tiger King drew new attention to her cause. Similarly, it also highlighted her feud with Joe Exotic and the loss of her second husband.
Early Life and Childhood
Carole Baskin was born on 6th June 1961 in San Antonio, Texas. Carole Stairs is her birth name. Her zodiac sign is Gemini. As of the year 2021, she is currently 59 years old.
Similarly, she was born into a low-income family to Vernon Charles Stairs (father) and Mary Barbara Jean Norris Stairs (mother) (mother). Carole was her parents’ only child. Despite their hardship, they encouraged her to do whatever she desired, but she broke away from her own home at the age of 15 to live on her own. She spent nights sleeping under cars and going without food after leaving her home at the age of 15.
Professional Life
Carole Baskin began her working life as a zookeeper. Following her marriage to Lewis, she founded the “Big Cat Rescue” zoo in Tampa, Florida. Thousands of wildlife, including cheetahs, caracals, pumas, lions, and tigers, are protected at the zoo. Currently, she serves as the park’s CEO and founder. Big Cat Rescue, her zoo, is temporarily closed to the public due to the 2020 global pandemic of COVID 19. Moreover, she has even appeared in the crime documentary series “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness” in 2020. She also starred in “Blackfish: the Big Cat Version.”
Animal Activism and Big Cat Rescue
Baskin had her first taste of big cats in 1992, when her second partner, Don Lewis, brought her a 6-month-old bobcat. A trip to a fur farm resulted in the pair adopting more than fifty more bobcat kittens, which were quickly joined by plenty of other species. Baskin and Lewis eventually cared for 200 large cats on a 40-acre sanctuary in Tampa, Florida, which had a bed and breakfast where visitors could communicate with the cats. It was known as Wildlife on East Street.
About the fact that Baskin and Lewis were animal rescuers, they both sold and bred large cats. However, when Baskin’s concern for animal welfare caused her to object to this activity, she found herself at odds with Lewis. She kept control of the sanctuary and its residents until Lewis vanished.
Baskin’s charitable company was called Big Cat Rescue after her engagement to Howard Baskin in 2004. Big Cat Rescue is also a 69-acre wildlife shelter with large enclosures (the smallest is 1,200 square feet). Visitors have been allowed at Big Cat Rescue, though their trips have been restricted due to the coronavirus pandemic, they are not permitted to play with the cats.
The organization also campaigns for legislation to preserve big cats. Baskin wants the Big Cat Public Safety Act to become law; it will clamp down on unscrupulous breeders and outlaw private possession of big cats, as well as prohibit zoos from allowing people to pet and handle these species. “We hold Big Cat Rescue and the Baskins in the highest regard,” a Humane Society spokeswoman told the Tampa Bay Times in April 2020.
Caption: Carole Baskin at a show (Source: nbcnews)
Movie Tiger King
Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness, a success when it was published during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020. The movie is based on Baskin and Exotic’s fraught friendship. The show also investigated the disappearance of Baskin’s second husband (Baskin has consistently denied any involvement in his disappearance).
Net Worth
Carole Baskin, 58, has made a good living as an animal rights activist and zookeeper. As the CEO of the “Big Cat Rescue” zoo, she has amassed a fortune worth millions of dollars, and her net worth is believed to be around $20 million. Similarly, she is the sole owner of her late husband’s million-dollar estate, Jack Donald Lewis. Similarly, she had accused the directors of misleading tactics following the publication of Tiger King.
In a public interview, she said that she hoped the series
“would expose the misery caused by the rampant breeding of big-cat cubs for cub petting exploitation and the awful life the cats lead in roadside zoos and backyards if they survive.”
She was disappointed because the program, in her opinion, had “the sole goal of being as salacious and sensational as possible to draw viewers.” The directors argued that Baskin had freely disclosed information of her personal life.
Some viewers have pointed out that Tiger King’s editing and narrative decisions did not favor Baskin. Accusations and insinuations about her role in her husband’s death are extensively reported. She is given no chance to counter allegations raised about her. Baskin told the Tampa Bay Times that she had received several death threats following the release of Tiger King.
Relationship Status
Carole Baskin was married three times in her life. Carole first married Mike Murdock, whom she met when she ran away from home. Baskin married when she was 17 years old and had a daughter named Jamie Veronica Murdock. Mike was allegedly so possessive and disrespectful to her that he wouldn’t even let her go out. But one night, 19-year-old Carole fled and, while walking down the highway, she met a man named Bob Martin, with whom she spent the night platonically at a hotel.
Baskin quickly fell in love with him. Later it was revealed to be Jack Donald Lewis. Lewis was a self-made millionaire who still loved animals. Similarly, Lewis, on the other hand, left his first wife in order to marry Carole. Lewis was 22 years older than Baskin. When they got married, Lewis was 42 years old and Baskin was 20. They married in 1991 and settled in Tampa, Florida. Lewis, on the other hand, got lost and was never identified, so he was declared dead. Baskin was said to be the one who murdered him. Joe Exotic, her rival, also produced a video song in which he depicted a woman murdering her husband in order to tease Baskin. Baskin inherited all of Lewis’s assets after he was never discovered.
She is now married to her third partner, Howard Baskin. Carole met Howard, a management consultant, in 2002. They started dating and married at a beach wedding and honeymooned in the Virgin Islands two years later.
Body Measurement and Social Media
Carole Baskin is a stunning white lady in her late fifties. She has a light skin tone, blue eyes, and blonde hair. She has 5ft. 4in. (1.62 m) the tall height and weighs approximately 56kg (123 lbs). She has an overall body measurement of 34-30-36 inches, a bra size of 34A, and a shoe size of 7(US).
Carole Baskin is active on all social media accounts including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. She has gained more than 101k followers on Facebook under the username @carole.baskin. Similarly, 23.5k on Instagram under the username @carolebaskincat and 3.8k followers on Twitter under the username @carole_baskin.
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