Keenesburg, COLORADO (Enviro Snowflake Brief)— Luna, a female adult tiger, was rescued from Joe Exotic’s G.W. Zoo, and she laid down for an interview with Anderson Cooper that will air on CBS 60 Minutes April 19th.
Luna, uniquely fluent in English for a tiger, survived years of abuse- inhumane small enclosure, dragged and whipped into photo ops, and repeatedly beaten for roaring when her new born cubs were ripped away by Joseph Maldonado-Passage (aka “Joe Exotic”).
CBS, released a portion of the interview transcript as a promo for 60 Minutes airing of Luna’s interview with Anderson, which the tiger shows some quick wit and sadness, while addressing pop culture’s unconscionable laugh at Netflix’s Tiger King.
Anderson Cooper: I appreciate you allowing me into your habitat today, and what a beautiful home The Wild Animal Sanctuary created for you.
Luna: The little piece of Colorado I was given restores a tiny bit of faith in humans. I have more space than any roadside show tiger could dreamt of having… I have a stream to swim, a field to run, and tiger mates who share similar nightmares, like Mo, Curly, and Pearl the white tiger… all of us rescued from Joe.
Anderson Cooper: Would you share with us your reaction to the fact Joe is in a similar size cage as he kept you?
Luna: I will only say that the irony of where he will now likely spend the rest of his life compared to where 39 of his former tigers are now living, in our expansive Colorado habitats, is an irony not lost on any roadside tiger.
Anderson Cooper: I want to play a human pop culture name game with you. I’ll name a pop culture human, who took the energy to react in some way to Joe and Tiger King, and you tell me your reaction to that human.
Luna: Let’s play!
Anderson Cooper: Cardi B (tweeting “I love Joe”)
Luna: Likely a fur wearer who doesn’t want to know where or how the fur ended up on her coats.
Anderson Cooper: Rob Lowe (dressing up as Joe for Instagram)
Luna: Too “thirsty” for relevance to see our newborn cubs abused or tigers beaten.
Anderson Cooper: Shaq (defending himself for going repeatedly to Joe’s)
Luna: Disappointing… a human I thought with empathy and a love for tigers, and he missed the moment to use his voice to help us. Simply using your TV exposure to say “I didn’t know” doesn’t help rescue roadside tigers. Step up and put your money where you say your heart is!
Anderson Cooper: Donald Jr. Trump (being Don Jr.)
Luna: So, he thinks it would be “cool” to own a tiger… truly, any adult tiger, for all wildlife’s benefit, would gladly give up their life if they could have two minutes alone with him.
Anderson Cooper: Jane Goodall
Luna: Hero…the best of what a human has to offer.
Anderson Cooper: I’ll put these two together. Eric Goode and Rebecca Chaiklin, Tiger King’s co-directors and co-producers.
Luna: They have done meaningful conservation work for turtles in the past, but sold out tigers for fame of their own.
Anderson Cooper: Goode and Chaiklin claimed to be making the big cat version of “Blackfish,” the award-winning 2013 documentary that sparked backlash against SeaWorld. Reaction to that claim?
Luna: They know exactly what they made, and generated the exact human pop culture response they hoped for- tigers were props for their human freakshow.
Anderson Cooper: American Pop Culture
Luna: 237 tigers, who survived Joe’s tortuous treatment have no roar or purr to explain to our cubs why the best humans could not drown out the “breed and dump” circus, and yell louder to stop the cruelty.
Anderson Cooper: Final word Luna?
Luna: If you care about tigers, tell your humans in Congress to support Big Cat Public Safety Act, a bill that would ban most private big cat ownership and public contact with big cats.
