Striped Reckoning - by Carol Bradley (Paperback)

About the Book

Carol Bradley chronicles the untold story of exotic big cats in the United States and how the struggle to drive breeders out of business and rehome their lions and tigers led to a momentous new law protecting these majestic beasts.

Book Synopsis

Striped Reckoning charts the shocking history of exotic big cats in the United States and chronicles how the struggle to drive a trio of breeders out of business and rehome their nearly two hundred captive lions and tigers led to a momentous new law protecting these majestic animals. Through the years big cats have been used in circuses and movies and paraded onto television talk shows, encouraging ordinary Americans to think of these apex predators as docile and adorable. Breeders made small fortunes selling cubs and charging customers to pose for photos with them, only to neglect and abuse them behind the scenes.

Striped Reckoning explores how animal advocates worked to drive modern-day Tiger Kings Joe Exotic, Tim Stark, and Jeff Lowe out of business. After Exotic was convicted of trying to arrange the murder of a sanctuary owner, his story exploded on Netflix, and the federal government moved in on Stark and Lowe. Then sanctuaries across the country stepped in to rescue and rehabilitate the big cats that were left behind.

Review Quotes

"Part investigative history and part animal welfare chronicle, Striped Reckoning is a compelling account of how determined individuals changed public attitudes--and ultimately the law--to protect some of the world's most magnificent animals."--Montana State of the Arts Quarterly

"An engrossing and dismaying account of the business of big cats in America. Sadly, more tigers are now in captivity in the U.S. than in their native habitats. Carol Bradley takes us on a wild tour through the backyard and roadside zoos and faux sanctuaries where people besotted with big cats store, breed, and destroy lions, tigers, cheetahs, and others. Recent federal laws give her hope, but the underlying problem remains: people's lust to own wild creatures."--Virginia Morell, author of the New York Times best-selling Animal Wise: How We Know Animals Think and Feel

"Striped Reckoning chronicles the astonishing brutal mistreatment and rescue of lions, tigers, and other big cats in America and tells how the downfall of 'Tiger King' Joe Exotic helped give them some hope and new lives. This heartrending book belongs on the shelves of animal lovers everywhere and surely will capture the hearts of anyone who has ever loved an animal. It'll make you think twice about seeing any lion or tiger in captivity again."--Marc Bekoff, author of The Emotional Lives of Animals: A Leading Scientist Explores Animal Joy, Sorrow, and Empathy--and Why They Matter

"Carol Bradley has kidnapped me. I am locked inside her new book. What a gripping, confounding revelation full of twists as good as your favorite detective novel. Except, of course, this time it's true. Brilliant!"--Luis Alberto Urrea, author of the Pulitzer Prize finalist The Devil's Highway: A True Story

"In her not-to-be-missed Striped Reckoning, Carol Bradley has once and for all put to rest the notion of a 'humane' treatment of the magnificent big cats caught and forced to perform or to serve as pets. The book provides an unflinching, sometimes disturbing, yet ultimately hopeful account of the efforts of big cat activists to discredit the activities of a seemingly endless array of unscrupulous showmen, misguided collectors, and ill-intentioned zookeepers oblivious to the welfare of an amazing set of creatures never meant to live in captivity. It is a fascinating and touching work."--Les Standiford, author of the New York Times best-selling Last Train to Paradise

About the Author

Carol Bradley is a former journalist who studied animal law as a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University. She is the author of three previous books about animals, including Twisting in Air: The Sensational Rise of a Hollywood Falling Horse (Bison Books, 2024), winner of the 2025 Will Rogers Medallion, and Last Chain on Billie: How One Extraordinary Elephant Escaped the Big Top.