Animal Instinct: After Tiger King and Chimp Crazy, Filmmaker Eric Goode Exposes His Own Past With the Illegal Reptile Trade.

Few people have spent more time documenting—and at times participating in—the world of exotic wildlife than filmmaker and conservationist Eric Goode.

In a recent Vanity Fair interview discussing his documentary Monsters of God, Goode reflects on decades spent among collectors, dealers, smugglers, zoos and private wildlife owners.

One admission stands out.

Although he continues to care for rescued animals, he acknowledges that they would ultimately be better off in the wild.

That observation reaches beyond one individual.

It speaks to one of the central ethical questions surrounding captivity.

Even when people genuinely love wild animals, can human care ever replace the lives those animals evolved to live?

Goode also describes something many people never see:

The exotic wildlife trade isn't simply about individual owners.

It is a global network connecting breeding, collecting, trafficking, commerce, conservation, regulation and human fascination with rare animals.

Perhaps that's why conversations about wildlife shouldn't begin with one owner or one animal.

They should begin with a larger question:

What kind of world are we creating when wild animals become objects to possess?

Sometimes the most powerful voices are those of people who have seen the system from the inside.

Source: Vanity Fair interview with Eric Goode discussing Monsters of God.

Published July 29, 2026

Read the Complete Interview/Article:

https://www.vanityfair.com/story/eric-goode-monsters-of-god-interview-tiger-king-chimp-crazy